Don't Touch That Dial: 1025 FM is Back!
by whoknoez
Summary: The longawaited sequel to 102.5 FM! Yay! Set two years after everything that transpired in 102.5 FM, Naraku's still undiscovered, but I have a feeling he won't stay that way for long...
1. The Family

**Disclaimer**: Ah... Alas... Inuyasha does not belong to me.

**wk**: Whoo Hoo! Lookie here! It's the first chapter to the _sequel_!

Just a warning to you guys: **I'm not too sure I like this version... I might be changing it later**. So tell me if you guys like it or not, okay?

**Chapter One  
The Family**

_Two years later_

"Inu-chan!" Kagome growled, running after the diaper-clad almost-two-year old. Inu-chan giggled when she caught him, pulling on her hair.

"Mama!" Inu-chan stated. Kagome rolled her eyes, and brought Inu-chan back over to the playpen. It had walls, but it did no good against Inu-chan. If he wanted out, he was going to get _out_.

Inuyasha walked in then, grinning as he saw Kagome's state. "Inu-chan causing trouble again?" he asked, affectionately patting the boy on his head. Inu-chan laughed, pulling down the arm and latching on. When Inuyasha retracted his arm, the little toddler came with it. Inuyasha mock growled at the child, and Kagome only shook her head as the toddler growled back. Leaving them to their own antics, Kagome started to walk into the kitchen to start making lunch. "You're home early," Kagome said, glancing at a clock. "Like… three hours early."

"Yeah… They said they didn't mind if I took half a day today." Kagome frowned.

"If you get fired—"

"Aw, babe, you know that they would never fire the famous Hanyou. I'm a sexy voice that they dare not touch."

Kagome snorted, pulling out some kitchen utensils. She was about to pull out other various items, but a sound had her rushing into the bedroom. There, in the crib, was the newest addition to the family. Inuyasha was right behind her, holding Inu-chan.

"Inuyasha," Kagome murmured while patting the crying baby on the back. "I'm getting nervous…"

Inuyasha's face soured. "I've been nervous ever since they announced they still couldn't find him. Kagome…" Inuyasha took a deep breath, walking nearer and drawing her closer. The children cuddled between them, they embraced each other.

The baby started to cry again. When Kagome and Inuyasha looked down, Inu-chan had the baby's cheeks in his hand, frowning when he couldn't reshape them the way he wanted to.

"Inu-chan!" Kagome scolded, wagging a finger at him. Inu-chan looked properly chastised. He even started to cry a little. Kagome looked at Inuyasha exasperatedly, and he laughed, pulling her close to give her a kiss that had them both humming.

"Why don't I make dinner tonight, baby? You can take a nap with Aiko," Inuyasha said.

"Really? It won't just be ramen, will it?" Kagome asked, teasing. Inuyasha looked sheepish as he shook his head.

"Well, maybe I'll make one for myself," he said, and was hit on the head. Kagome scoffed at him.

"As long as you make _me _something good, I don't think I'll complain." Kagome yawned, and crawled onto the bed, carefully holding Aiko. She was asleep within moments.

Carrying Inu-chan, Inuyasha walked out, mumbling incoherent phrases to the small child. Inu-chan did his best to stuff his entire fist in his mouth.

"You want to eat ramen, don't you?" Inuyasha asked his son, tweaking one of the dog-ears on the top of his head. The child was human in every aspect, except for his ears. He had brown eyes like Kagome, and black hair. Aiko had silver hair like her father and had more of the hanyou's attributes, rather than human ones. However, to Kagome's dismay, the girl didn't have the ears. Inuyasha snorted. It was one less thing that her peers would make fun of her about.

"No," Inu-chan declared. "Sangwhid." Inu-chan pouted and pumped one fist up and down. "Sangwhid!"

"Calm down, kid. I'll give you your sandwich," Inuyasha grumbled. There went his idea for cooking ramen for the both of them. If he cooked it only for himself, Kagome would cook his hide for sure.

Inu-chan giggled and gargled, as if he knew he had gotten his way. "You want to make a sandwich for Mommy?" Inuyasha asked.

Inu-chan seemed fascinated with the prospect, and bounced up and down in Inuyasha's arms.

"Sangwhid! Sangwhid!" Inu-chan clapped his hands. Inuyasha walked into the kitchen, thinking of Kagome's statement to him.

_I'm getting nervous_…

Inuyasha handed Inu-chan a piece of bread, which the boy automatically stuck in his mouth. "Whoa there, Tiger. Slow down, or you'll choke and leave Daddy sad." It had been two years since Naraku disappeared, and although Inuyasha had made every effort at the station with the connections that he had to discover the whereabouts of Naraku, he just couldn't be found. At first, Kagome followed him to the station everyday, but as days, weeks, and months passed and nothing happened, they both unconsciously relaxed. Moreover, when she became so pregnant she couldn't even see her feet, she grew restless, and wanted to stay home instead of following him everyday. It was taxing for her body, and he understood. He cared about her health, and wanted her to stay in bed the whole day. Of course, she never did, but he felt she was resting more at home.

However, with his new family, Inuyasha felt caution. With each passing day, Inuyasha felt more and more wound up. Naraku still hadn't been found, and Inuyasha didn't understand how a person could disappear so completely.

"Mo!" Inu-chan pouted, rubbing his hand on the counter as if he could conjure up a piece of bread that way. Inuyasha gave him another slice, watching carefully as the boy eagerly engulfed it.

Now, with the new addition to the family, Aiko, he was afraid again. He had been… okay before, because he felt he could handle it. However, the months passed, and now… with two years under the belt, he was growing even more wary. He could almost feel the bad clouds gathering on top of his home.

"Mo!" Inu-chan demanded, his fist curling and uncurling, indicating that he wanted the bread in his palm _now. _

"Don't be greedy," Inuyasha scolded, and watched his scowling son. "You said you were going to make a sandwich for Mommy. Mommy will want a sandwich. Don't you want to give her one?" Inuyasha coaxed. He handed the boy another slice of bread. He took out a butter knife with the peanut butter and jelly. "Now this is how you do it." Head bent, he painstakingly showed Inu-chan how to apply the peanut butter and jelly as if it was a surgery instead of a meal.

When it was Inu-chan's turn to make a sandwich, more peanut butter and jelly made it on the counter than on the slice of bread. Inu-chan folded it over, and held it up to Inuyasha, beaming. Inuyasha laughed, shaking his head and looking at the mess a bit skeptically. "Are you gonna clean this, Inutaisho?" Inuyasha asked sternly.

Inu-chan stuck out his tongue, and ran off. Inuyasha sighed. "I figured as much. Don't bother Mommy! She's taking a little nap," Inuyasha called after the little boy. Ever since the small child had learned to use his legs, he was off like a shot, giving Kagome more than necessary exercise. It kept her mostly in shape, even after two years and two babies. When she was able, she jogged, and when she couldn't, she tried to eat healthy.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. She had a great body no matter what, so it wasn't as if he cared. As long as she didn't die from cholesterol clogging, or something ridiculous, he was happy.

Inuyasha set the sandwich his son made and a glass of milk next to it on a tray. He made two more sandwiches since she should have a hearty appetite after waking up, and then made a couple more for himself. Sighing and looking longingly at the box of ramen, he started to carry the tray into their room. When he saw that Kagome was curled around the baby protectively and still asleep, he wanted to curl up behind her, hold her, and join her in slumber. The radio today had been frustrating, as it usually was. What worried Inuyasha increasingly was that Naraku knew his real identity, and at any time, that information could be unleashed.

Maybe he should ask for a week off. He felt he could use a break from the strain. In addition, with Miroku and Sango's first baby on its way, he was sure that Miroku had plenty of things to talk about. Kagome did seem to be a bit hassled, too. He knew she loved the children more than life itself, but it must be hard, taking care of a crying baby and a hyperactive toddler. He decided that he _would _ask for a week off. Besides, he could keep an eye on Kagome and his kids that way, and calm the growing unease inside of him.

He set the tray on the bedside table, and gently shook Kagome's shoulder. Her eyes snapped open, and she bolted up, but fell back against the pillow with her arm still protectively around her daughter. Inuyasha seemed a bit startled, but laughed when he saw her exasperated look.

"Geez, don't surprise me like that!" Kagome mumbled, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Aiko awoke, and unlike most babies, didn't cry. She looked at her father, gurgling softly. Inuyasha held out his arms to hold his daughter, and Kagome passed her over. Inuyasha smiled at his little girl, stroked the soft, downy silver hair on the top of her head. She grabbed Inuyasha's hand, bringing it to her mouth to suck on a finger.

"There's your dinner, sunshine. Guess which one Inu-chan made for you?" Inuyasha said, his brow arching in amusement. Kagome smiled.

"Could it be the one with finger marks deep in the bread, and jelly spewing out of the sides?"

"Nah. That's the one I made for you. He made you the clean ones," Inuyasha said. Kagome laughed.

"Oh, you're so valiant; taking the blame for your son like that," Kagome teased. Inuyasha grinned.

"What can I say? A father's got to do what he has to do," Inuyasha said, nodding as if it was the most profound advice he could have given himself. Kagome gave him a kiss, and started to eat the sandwiches.

"And here I was, thinking it was some kind of gourmet meal," Kagome said.

"Well, I'm saving that one for later. Namely, this Saturday." Kagome blinked at him.

"What?"

"Ah… Miroku made discrete reservations at this fancy restaurant… They know that Hanyou will be there, but they won't know which customer. Miroku made sure there would be more than one hanyou there, giving out free reservations, and uh… Well… Do you want to be my date?" Inuyasha asked, acting like a shy teenager. Kagome laughed at his ridiculousness. He was being outrageous, trying to act shy with her when he had their daughter in his arms.

"The kids…" Kagome stated slowly.

"Miroku said he'd watch them. With Sango to chaperone, of course," Inuyasha said. Kagome beamed at him. She leaned over to kiss him again, and he tasted the peanut butter and jelly on her lips. It was almost sexier than the taste of strawberries and wine on her lips, but all the same, it was intoxicating to him. If Aiko hadn't been conveniently in his arms…

"It's a date," she said huskily."

"Daddy!" Inu-chan shrieked outside. Inuyasha felt alarm race through him, was out there in a flash after depositing Aiko quickly into Kagome's arms. "I hurted it!" Inu-chan cried out, his tears evident.

"What?" Inuyasha asked, crouching so he could communicate better with the crying boy.

"I hurted it!" Inu-chan repeated, big fat tears rolling out of the side of his eyes. "My fingwa!"

Inuyasha sighed, relieved it was nothing more serious. "What happened?" he murmured, feeling Kagome's hand squeeze on his shoulder. She was relieved as well.

"I fell on it."

"Fell on your finger?" Inu-chan let out a sob and nodded. Inuyasha easily picked the little boy up.

"Well, no need to cry about it. If you don't think about it, and think of something good instead, the owie will go away," Inuyasha crooned. Inu-chan seemed doubtful of this. He squeezed his little eyes shut, concentrating so hard he was practically vibrating. "Whoa there, Inu. Don't hurt yourself," Inuyasha laughed.

"It didn't work," Inu-chan declared, opening his eyes and landing an accusing gaze at Inuyasha.

"Oh, then it _must _be serious," Kagome said, taking over. She gestured to Inuyasha to follow her. "We'll have to bandage it, like the doctors do on TV."

"TV?" Inu-chan repeated, catching the one word in the sentence that he was fascinated with.

"Yeah," Kagome said, taking out a first aid kit. She handed Aiko to Inuyasha, and Inuyasha watched as she wrapped an impressive looking bandage all around his hand. "In thirty seconds, the owie will be gone!" After half a minute passed, Kagome unraveled the hand. "See?"

"Owie feels badder," Inu-chan said, his chin wobbling. Kagome looked incredibly perplexed, and Inuyasha snorted.

"Oy! Be a man! You can take a little owies," Inuyasha said. He puffed out his own chest. "Big strong man!" he punctuated this archaic statement with a fist to his chest like King Kong.

Inu-chan seemed to consider this. "Okay," Inu-chan seemed to agree reluctantly. Inuyasha beamed, and Kagome only rolled her eyes.

"Trust testosterone to call to testosterone," Kagome murmured. "I want the only sane person in this house." She held out her arms for Aiko, and Inuyasha carefully handed the infant over. "Inuyasha, can you change Inu-chan's diaper? He has that look in his eyes," Kagome said, walking into the room. Inuyasha scowled down at the small boy.

"When are you going to be potty-trained?" Inuyasha asked the boy. Inu-chan shrugged at his father, and obediently lied down on the sofa so Inuyasha could change his diaper. The moment Inuyasha got the Velcro together, there was a ring at the door. As always, Inuyasha tensed, and looked through the peephole before opening the door.

Shippo was standing there, cooing at Inu-chan. "Hi, Inuyasha!" Shippo said cheerfully. "Where's Kagome?"

"Hi, Shippo," Kagome said, smiling. Shippo grinned.

"Hi, Kagome! I'm back from school!" Shippo stepped into the house, taking off his shoes.

Kagome and Inuyasha had adopted the little tyke when the other family moved away and decided that Shippo would not belong into the community they were going to. Shippo was now part of the family, and Inuyasha thought wryly that it was one more hungry mouth to feed.

"I'm hungry," Shippo declared, heading to the kitchen for a snack.

"Oy! Don't be rude and say hello to your siblings," Inuyasha growled, hitting Shippo over the head. Shippo grabbed his head, instantly starting a wail that made Inuyasha receive a hit from Kagome over the head.

"Don't be such a jerk, Inuyasha," Kagome muttered, holding Shippo's hand and guiding him to the kitchen where she gave him a snack.

"You spoil him. I won't let you spoil my kids like that," Inuyasha growled, and was instantly pinned with a glare that rivaled the sun's intensity.

"_Your _kids? I'm sorry, I didn't see _you _push them painfully out of _your _vagina through hours of labor and excruciating pain," she hissed.

"Uh…" Inuyasha seemed uncomfortable with the subject, although he had been there when she went through it all. Hell, he had sat behind her and held her hand through it all. He was the first to hold his child. He remembered the ecstatic feeling, the surprising feeling of love course through him immediately. But he also remembered when he had given Inu-chan to Kagome. Her face had been sweaty and messy, but she had a soft smile that glowed as she held her child. It had been reverent, and Inuyasha watched the instantaneous bond between mother and child form. It had been a breathless moment.

"Okay, you win," Inuyasha grumbled. Kagome smiled, and led Shippo to the kitchen. Inuyasha heard Shippo briefly ask, "What did you push them through?" Inuyasha had to suppress a laugh as he heard Kagome's stutters.

Inuyasha sighed. With two kids, one in the crib in their room, it was hard to make love to his wife, and he wanted to sorely everyday. Maybe they could have one more child…

Jesus Christ, he was obsessed with kids. He never thought he was fatherly in any way, nor did he think he would enjoy kids so much, but now… With three under his belt, he just wanted them until he was hip dip in the cute suckers. Well, seeing as you needed two to make a baby, he needed to ask Kagome first.

"Daddy!" Inu-chan pouted, tugging on Inuyasha's pants.

"Huh? What?" Inuyasha snapped out of his reverie, looking down at the small boy.

"Scawy!" Inu-chan said, pointing at the window.

"What's scary?" Inuyasha asked, picking up his little boy and walking to the window.

"Scawy!" Inu-chan declared again, pointing at a specific spot. Inuyasha looked from the left to the right, and froze. There was a man walking down the sidewalk, and he was afraid he knew who it was.

He had reappeared.

* * *

**wk**: Okay! End of chapter one! Remember to tell me what you all thought, okay? Oh, and I'll give two guesses as to _who _reappeared. (Grins) I'm just so evil sometimes I scare myself. 


	2. Jealousy and Anniversary

**Disclaimer**: Inuyasha equals not mine.

**wk**: Sorry it took so long to update! Now that I'm done with finals, I can concentrate on fanfiction, though! Sorry again! Without further ado...

**Chapter Two  
Jealousy and Anniversary**

"Kagome! I'm going to go out for a minute. I think I saw You-Know-Who," Inuyasha snarled, and Inu-chan obediently went to his mother when she held out her hand to him. Strangely, however, Kagome seemed tranquil at the announcement.

"Don't inflict too much damage, Inuyasha. I still remember the broken window from last time," Kagome warned as he rushed out of the house.

Inuyasha squinted down the street, and saw a figure standing there. Walking briskly, he said hello to a few neighbors, but didn't allow a chance for conversation. "Oy! What the heck are you doing here?" Inuyasha snapped, stopping in front of Kouga with his arms crossed. "Get out of here, you damned wolf!"

"Are you still sore that your niece and I are engaged?" Kouga asked dryly. Inuyasha "Keh"ed.

"Of course not! Just keep your grubby paws off of her, and we'll all be one big fucking happy family," Inuyasha snapped.

Kouga smirked. "You _do _know she's not a virgin anymore—" A punch to his face stopped the rest of his sentence.

"What the hell was that for!" Kouga snapped, getting up from the ground where he had landed. Inuyasha, fuming, only bared his fangs. "We've been going out for two years now, dog-shit! You shouldn't be so surprised!"

"I try not to think about you two together if I can help it," Inuyasha growled.

Kouga, although tensed since his pride had been challenged, held himself back. Ayame would be pissed at him if he started an irreconcilable fight with her beloved uncle. Not to mention that Ayame's engagement ring would end up in the trash if he did that. Ayame valued family above others, which was one reason why he loved her so much. Their pups would be loved unconditionally.

Inuyasha, despite the time that had elapsed, couldn't be easy on Kouga. He could accept him as family—albeit grudgingly—but until that ring was on her finger, he was going to be as tough on Kouga as possible. Hell, the man had gone after _his _wife before setting his sights on Inuyasha's niece! He couldn't trust a man like that. And God forgive him if Kouga did anything to hurt Ayame…

"You know Ayame's coming back this weekend? She's done with her classes over there, and she's going to be on her Thanksgiving break."

"Of course I know," Inuyasha snapped. "I've known since she started school, you piece of wolf crap."

"Watch it, dog shit. I still haven't forgiven you for taking my woman in the first place," Kouga snarled through his half-grin. Inuyasha rounded on him, his teeth bared.

"You have a _lot _of nerve, calling Kagome your woman! Especially since you're engaged to my _niece_, you damned--!"

"Oh, Inuyasha!" One of his elderly neighbors hobbled up. "It's such a pretty day, isn't it? How's the family? Oh, and who's this?"

Inuyasha practically shuddered back the dislike for the wolf-demon, and turned to his neighbor. He noticed that as soon as he turned his back, Kouga left. Fucking coward! He heard Kouga yell "See you next time!" as he sped off.

"Hi, Mrs. Kimikawa. The family's good. Wanna stop by? I'm sure Kagome would love it," Inuyasha said, unusually polite. Mrs. Kimikawa just smiled and shook her head.

"No, that's all right dear. I'll bake some cookies for another time." With that, she winked and continued her walk down the street. Inuyasha sighed, and headed back for home.

When he walked inside and slipped off his shoes, Inu-chan was sitting on one of his feet. Inuyasha blinked at his son, and Inu-chan sheepishly smiled back.

"Where'd you go?" Inu-chan asked, tugging slightly on Inuyasha's pants.

"None of your business," Inuyasha said in a sing-song voice, and began to walk with the child still on his foot. "Oy! Kagome? Who's this kid on my foot?"

Inu-chan giggled, digging his face into Inuyasha's pants as if Kagome couldn't see him if he did that.

"Hm… I don't know what you're talking about, Inuyasha. I don't see anyone on your foot."

"Oh, really? Well, I see a little ball of pup on my foot, and he's not gettin' off," Inuyasha said, looking down wryly at the little boy. Inu-chan giggled again, before turning up his face up to look at Inuyasha. Inu-chan stuck out his tongue, and Inuyasha returned the gesture.

"I hope your face gets stuck like that," Kagome muttered, beckoning to Inu-chan.

Inuyasha smiled at her.

"No you don't, because then you'd have to stare at it while we—"

"Uh-uh, Inuyasha! Not in front of the children!" Kagome warned, blushing. Inuyasha loved it that she could still blush. Inuyasha grabbed her the next moment, giving her a small kiss and grinning.

"Tonight, maybe we can—"

Aiko's sudden cry had a frustrated sigh blowing out of Inuyasha's mouth. He clapped his hands and held out his arms so Kagome could give Aiko over. Aiko didn't quiet when in her Daddy's arms. In fact, she cried harder.

"Hold on. Let me go put Inu-chan down for a nap," Kagome said, picking up the little boy and going to his room.

"Oy, what's wrong with you?" Inuyasha mumbled, patting the baby on the back as one of Aiko's fists curled around one of his locks and yanked. Inuyasha winced, but continued to pat the baby.

Kagome came back out, closing the door softly behind her.

"Oh, I guess she's hungry. I'll go make the milk." Kagome disappeared into the kitchen, and Inuyasha heard her prepare a bottle. He turned his attention to his youngest, and frowned. He held the baby up and away from him, and Aiko opened her eyes and continued to cry. Her eyes were squinted and were squeezing out tears. She was so _cute_, even when she was crying. Inuyasha felt his heart melt, as it did every time he looked at his kids.

"Inuyasha, can you quiet her? It's going to start to upset Inutaisho."

Inuyasha turned Aiko carefully, and gently closed his mouth over the back of her neck. Infinitely careful, he applied gentle pressure. Aiko immediately ceased crying, and held still and limp. It was a trick he had learned from Myouga. Myouga, a frequent visitor at their humble abode, had seen that Kagome and Inuyasha were harried from Inu-chan's constant crying. When he told Inuyasha what to do, Inuyasha had tried it. Inu-chan had instantly gone quiet, only a few hiccups resounding. It was a survival tactic that was deeply ingrained into canine demons. Wolf-demons had much more stronger tactics and behaviorisms, but dog-demons were able to get by with a only a few.

When he pulled his mouth away, Aiko remained quiet. When he turned her around, she blinked up at him with wide eyes, her nose twitching. He gave an affectionate growl at her, and to his surprise, felt a responding rumble. "Kagome! She's growling!" Kagome ran out of the kitchen, grinning and with a ready bottle in hand.

"Is she really?" Kagome asked, excited as she gave the bottle to Inuyasha and picked Aiko up. "That's much sooner than Inu-chan!"

She growled at her daughter, delighted when she felt the rumble. "Well aren't you the most adorable growler!" Kagome exclaimed, beaming. Myouga had also explained that growling was an essential part of a child's growth. While wolves had their pack song to feel their togetherness, dogs had affectionate growling to make their bonds more concrete.

Kagome let Inuyasha feed Aiko while she growled at her. Inuyasha burped her, and within minutes the youngster was asleep.

"Where's Shippo?" Inuyasha asked, and Kagome took her daughter to put her in the crib.

"He's playing games in his room. What else would he be doing?"

"He needs to get out more and do more stuff," Inuyasha said gruffly. "I'll talk to him later. In the meanwhile, since all the kids are down and out for the count…"

* * *

"Are you ready yet?" Inuyasha asked lazily on the couch. His claw plucked idly at the jacket of his tuxedo. He hated tuxedos. He hated the shoes that went with them even more. He hated dress codes.

"Almost!" Kagome yelled back.

Inuyasha had dropped the kids off at Miroku's, after making the monk promise that no harm would come to them. Then he had come back, dressed in his tuxedo, and all the while, Kagome was _still _not done getting ready. He knew that his impatience would disappear the moment Kagome appeared. He knew that she would take his breath away with her ravishing beauty and completely floor him. Still, waiting was not his forte.

"How about now?" Inuyasha asked. He received no answer, and he sighed. When he heard the door open, he craned his neck around to see, and would have had his neck frozen in that position had she not moved to stand in front of him.

"Where did you get _that _creation from God?" Inuyasha asked, his voice hoarse. Kagome grinned, turning around and Inuyasha nearly drooled. Her dress was most likely another of Nanami's works. Whenever Kagome went out, she insisted that she buy another master work of art from the now-famous Nanami.

"It's from Nanami, of course. So do you like it?" Kagome asked, twirling a bit to show off the light material of the dress.

Inuyasha swallowed. _Like _wasn't the word. The dress was a deep, dark red, almost brown in its color, and only made Kagome's skin glow. The color would have been absolutely hideous on some people. On Kagome, it was the most ravishing. The dress a turtleneck type of dress, and it had a low dip in the back, stopping right at the small of her back. "I… I love it," he managed to croak out. Kagome stifled a chuckle, lifting a foot onto his thigh so he could see the slit that ran up the side of the dress to the point it was nearly indecent. A few more inches and the entire expanse of her leg and hip would be exposed.

"Nanami had it custom-made for me."

"I can tell. It fits you like a wish," Inuyasha murmured, running a fingertip up her leg. She shuddered, goosebumps rising on her skin. "How long are you going to model dresses for her?"

"Until she says she doesn't need me," Kagome murmured, lowering her leg and leaning over to give him a kiss. He growled low in his throat, letting her take a chaste kiss. Besides, they would be late for their reservations if he carried out what he had in mind. "Let's go," Kagome whispered, pulling back, and pulling him to his feet. "The sooner we go, the sooner we can get back."

Inuyasha chuckled. It seemed that having the kids around had Kagome just on edge as he was. "Let's go then," he agreed, watching her slip into her heels. He ushered her to the car, and drove to what Kagome knew to be a fancy, grand, _expensive _restaurant.

"Inuyasha, are you sure that this is free? Or at least it won't cost a fortune?" Kagome asked, emerging from the car. Inuyasha snorted.

"Even if it did, remember I have that fortune in the bank. Don't worry, and let me take care of you tonight."

Kagome couldn't resist that offer. As a tired housewife, she sank into that offer like it was a cloud. Grinning at him, she took his offered arm, and Inuyasha gave his keys to the valet. It was moments like these that Kagome knew she had married the right man. Although rough around the edges, he was able to shed light on her with the smallest of gestures.

Lord knew he wasn't this gallant on a day-to-day basis.

When they sat down, Inuyasha immediately ordered wine for them to sip on while they looked at their menus and waited for their food. "Mm. I feel like pasta," Kagome murmured, looking through pastas. She ordered something that she could barely pronounce, and Inuyasha just ordered a steak, medium-rare.

Kagome looked around, noticing then that there were all kinds of hanyous there. She thought she even saw another inu-hanyou.

"Kagome, I wanted to ask you something." Inuyasha sipped his wine, looking thoughtfully at the liquid in his glass.

"Hm?" She gave him a soft smile. Pliant with wine, she listened, half of her mind on him, half on the people that were passing by.

Inuyasha grinned at her. "What do you think about—" He was interrupted when the waiter came with their food. He blinked. "That was incredibly fast."

"Thank you sir. We try our best," the waiter said, his smile never faltering even when Inuyasha sniffed his steak suspiciously. Kagome groaned inwardly.

"Thank you. I'm sure it will be delicious." Kagome watched Inuyasha poke at his steak with some level of embarrassment. Still, it was endearing. When he was satisfied that his food wasn't poisoned, he turned to her food. Endearing as it was, Kagome didn't need him to check her food. Stopping him with a finger to the tip of his nose, she pushed him back.

"Inuyasha, you're being paranoid. Don't worry and eat." Kagome took her fork and shoveled a forkful into her mouth before Inuyasha could protest. She rubbed her stomach as if eating an aphrodisiac. "Mm… Yummy! See? Now be a good puppy and eat your food." Scowling, Inuyasha took his knife and fork and cut into his own steak.

"Don't talk to me like I'm _your _bitch, bitch," Inuyasha said, stuffing a piece of meat in his mouth. Before Kagome could retort, the waiter came by again.

"Excuse me, but that gentleman over there wanted me to hand you this." It was a rose, and attached to it was a number. Inuyasha scowled, glaring at the man who paid no attention to the hanyou but instead had his eyes fixed on Inuyasha's wife. _His _wife!

"Please tell the gentleman that I—"

"Do not appreciate his damn attentions, and tell him to fuck off. She's fucking married!" Inuyasha growled. Kagome was starting to get annoyed with Inuyasha. She could handle herself! The waiter, seemingly unabashed by the harsh language or Inuyasha's temper, walked back to the man. Kagome wondered if the waiter used Inuyasha's exact words. When the man's eyes moved to Kagome's hand, Kagome moved her fingers subtly so that the man could see her wedding band.

Subtle, however, was shot to hell when Inuyasha grabbed her hand up and pointed at the ring with his finger.

"Do you see this?" he practically bellowed it. Other guests stared at them curiously. Kagome covered her face with her free hand, trying to tug the other one from Inuyasha's grasp.

"Inuyasha! Stop! You're causing a _scene_!"

"You're damn right I am! How _dare _he! We're fucking on a fucking date and he has the fucking nerve to—"

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to calm down, or you'll have to leave."

"Motherfucker! Can't even get a decent meal around here without getting interrupted!" Inuyasha growled. Kagome nearly wept from embarrassment as people continued to stare. Still, she sat there, eating her now-cold pasta silently. Inuyasha continued to fume about the subject, and the man that had been sitting at the bar disappeared. Probably scarred for life. "…freak carries around roses with him anyway?"

"Shut _up_, Inuyasha," Kagome said through gritted teeth. Inuyasha glanced at her, startled.

"Do you _like _him?" Inuyasha asked, his face bewildered. Kagome sighed.

"Inuyasha, I'm _married _to you, you freak. Calm down." She gave him a brilliant smile. "I love _you_. I could have married… Oh, I don't know… Kouga, for instance." Inuyasha snarled at that.

"If that wolf thinks he's—"

"Inuyasha! It was just an example. Geez." Kagome snapped, exasperated. You would think that after a year, he would know that she loved him and only him. "I love _you_, dammit," she said, more than a little peeved. This was their night out for the first time in a long time, and he was bent on ruining it.

Suddenly, he grinned and took her hand in his. Kagome, a little caught off by his behavior, blinked. "Kagome, when was the last time you've seen me acting jealously?"

Kagome blinked again, contemplating his question. "It was just… uh… Hm…" Kagome thought about it, and realized that Inuyasha hadn't really been jealous at all. Well, maybe with Kouga, but that was probably because Kouga was marrying his niece and he was very protective.

"Kagome, look at the rose. Look at the number." Kagome, frowning, looked at the small sheet of paper attached to the rose. When she contemplated the number, she blanched. She could figure out the first eight numbers. It was the date they were married. Kagome gave a puzzled look at the last two numbers.

"02?" She asked, looking at it quizzically.

"It's our two year anniversary." Inuyasha grinned. "Well, I'm a little late. Also, I didn't do anything for you last year. I know you've been working yourself to the bone, what with taking care of three kids. You even gave up your job. I wanted to take you out tonight to show you how much I appreciate it, and love you for it." Inuyasha, in a completely un-Inuyashalike gesture, kissed her fingers. Kagome's breath hitched, and she felt tears gather in her eyes.

"Inuyasha," she whispered. Inuyasha, usually uncomfortable when she cried, just grinned.

"There's more. Boy, you're going to be _bawling _when you see what I have in store for you next." Inuyasha picked up the rose that she had put down to wipe away a few tears. He handed it to her, and her fingers curled around it a lot more delicately, as if it had become more fragile.

"It's a closed bud. But if you open it…" Kagome gave him another quizzical look, but tried to peel back the petals. What she saw inside had her dropping the rose bud and gasping. Inuyasha laughed at her reaction. "Was there a bug inside?" he teased. Kagome's lip started to quiver, and Inuyasha gave her back the rose. This time, when she opened it, it revealed a beautiful, silver ring with three diamonds in the middle. It was crafted beautifully, and the bands weren't really connected, but one band went on top and the other on the bottom. It was one band, but they were twisted to be put together at the diamonds…. Kagome didn't know exactly how to explain it. It was just beautiful. She felt the tears gather and spill over.

"Here." Inuyasha took the ring, grabbed her left hand and put the ring on her ring finger on top of the other one. "Perfect."

Kagome gave a wet, delighted laugh. "Who was that guy?" She asked when she turned to try to find the man that had been sitting on the stool.

"Madame," said a deep voice behind her. Kagome turned quickly, and let out a loud, delighted, still wet laugh.

"Miroku! You look absolutely ridiculous! How could I not tell it was you?" Kagome asked, and only chuckled when Miroku kissed her hand. He was standing there in a trench coat, looking as if he was a detective or a criminal. He also had a fake mustache that curled upwards, as if he spent most of his time twisting it.

"You, my lovely flower, was meant for the most beautiful things. If you were the one to have bore _my _children, I would have been—"

"Miroku, man, that's enough," Inuyasha cut in. He was still grinning foolishly however.

"I thought you were watching the children?" Kagome asked.

"Sango can handle them." Kagome sighed.

"You _have _seen Inu-chan on the run, haven't you?" Kagome asked. Miroku smiled sheepishly.

"Well, I should return as soon as possible. I was just following Inuyasha's orders."

Kagome gave Inuyasha such a melting look that his heart didn't fail to give the solid _thump _it always did when Kagome looked at him like that.

Miroku said good-bye, and left. The frazzled waiter, who had been standing there the entire time, grumpily said, "Congratulations," and went on his way back to the kitchen once he was dismissed.

"So… Do you like it?" Inuyasha asked. Kagome gave him a heartfelt smile.

"Like? More like love it!" Kagome said enthusiastically. "You spoil me rotten. Inuyasha… I didn't even _remember_…"

"Sh… Don't worry about it. The fact that you take care of the hellion and our other children is enough of a gift for me."

"Well, I was going to say I could make up for it tonight, but if you just want me to look over the kids…" Kagome gave him such a sexy smirk that he couldn't help but pout.

"Aw… Kagome, you know I didn't mean _that_…" Kagome giggled, leaning over the table to kiss away his pout.

"I feel like such a lovesick fool tonight," Kagome said, starry-eyed from the wonder of the evening. "That was very clever of you, by the way. I was beginning to think you were a jealous jerk again."

"Please. As if I would be jealous of that stupid mongrel."

"Well, I didn't know it was _Miroku _at the time. He _was _pretty far away. And with that ridiculous mustache…" Kagome went off into peals of laughter. Inuyasha's heart squeezed at the sound. He loved making her laugh. He spent too much time making her angry and sad.

Even after two years, he knew he was still madly in love with Kagome. And he knew it didn't matter how much more time passed by, he would always love her.

When Kagome stopped laughing, she wondered why Inuyasha was staring at her so intently. "Inuyasha, do I have something on my face?"

"Hm? Oh, no. I was just thinking that this isn't going to go away," Inuyasha said, gruff. Kagome's brows furrowed in confusion.

"What's not going to go away?"

"This. Our connection. Bah. I don't like being a sap, Kag," Inuyasha said. Kagome giggled at his sudden turn of attitude.

"You were doing fine earlier," Kagome said. Inuyasha blushed.

"I practiced. In front of a mirror. Miroku told me what to do. Otherwise…" Inuyasha shrugged while Kagome valiantly held in her laughter. Thankfully, the waiter came with rolls at that moment.

"Kag, you said you love the _ring_, but—"

"Silly man. Must you hear it from me everyday for you to know?" Kagome chewed on a piece of chicken carefully. "I love you, my silly husband. Now eat, so we can go and I can show you how much _I _appreciate _you_."

"Yes ma'am," Inuyasha muttered, shoveling the food in his mouth. Kagome chuckled at how fast he was eating.

After they were done eating, Kagome hooked her arm through his as they walked outside. Inuyasha went to retrieve their car, and Kagome waited on the curb. The valet sputtered a protest, but Kagome soothed him, giving him another bill to keep him happy.

Kagome never noticed a pair of sinister eyes in the dark across the street, watching as Inuyasha picked her up and drove off onto the streets.

* * *

**wk**: Dun dun dun... Cliffie! Again! Sorry. Couldn't help myself. Sorry that this chapter is so short when you guys have been waiting _forever _for my update. (Guilty face) But like I said in my beginning author's note, I have a considerable amount of more time, so I should start updating regularly again. Yay! And yeah. The "Scawy Man" from the last chapter turned out to be Kouga. Most of the people seemed to think it was Naraku or Sesshoumaru. Glad to have stymied people Mwahaha!But a sinister pair of eyes? Hmmm... We'll have to see, won't we?

Okay. Now, I know that review of reviews is... what would you call it... "illegal" now, but I'm gonna do it anyway. Just for some people, anyway, since I believe some reviewers need feedback. For example...

**NefCanuck**, that is a _brilliant _idea, and I do believe I will utilize it.

HAHA**, Chibes**, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing when I read your review. I _should _have made it Richard Simmons. Then we could all be thin while we gasp in suspense for my next chapter.

Congratulations, **Okanim**! You were the one to correctly guess _fully_! You even guessed when... well... Let's keep that to just us. (Wink)

Um... I think adding an epilogue to 102.5 FM is kind of useless, since this is the sequel anyway. So... Yeah,I think that's going to be the end.Thanks for asking, **Dice-lord**!

**wk**: Okay. done. See? Not overly long and drawn out. Wait for my next chapter! I think I have an idea of how it's going to be...


	3. Taken With Each Other

**Disclaimer**: Plotline is mine. Inuyasha isn't. So sad.

**wk**: MAN. Sorry it took so damn long to udate! Between school, work, paying for school, studying for school, and finding a place to live next year, I've had nearly zip time to myself. I'm sorry again it took so long for me to update, and I'm sorry the update is relatively short. However, I hope this will satisfy you for the time being.

**Chapter Three  
Taken With Each Other**

"Inuyasha! Aiko's crying again! Could you please--?"

Frazzled and confused as to how Kagome could do this everyday, he went into the nursery. Since Aiko was getting big enough to be away from them, they had placed her in Inu-chan's bedroom with him. It had killed Kagome at first, as it did with Inu-chan, but Inuyasha had insisted again.

"Mama!" Inu-chan burbled. "I'm hungwy!"

"Okay, I'm making you some ramen right now," Kagome said to her little boy, who was tugging on her jeans as she stood over the steaming pot. Inu-chan pouted and ambled away.

Inuyasha came out of the room, holding Aiko in his arms. "Oh _man_, you deserve so much more credit than I give you."

She casually tilted her head up for his kiss, and smiled at him. "You betcha I do."

"Did I mention I love you?" Inuyasha asked against her mouth as he pulled her more firmly against him, Aiko blinking up at them.

"Maybe once or twice," she murmured, nipping at his lip.

"Kagome," he groaned, but stopped when he felt his son tugging on his pants.

"Daddy," Inu-chan said, and promptly sat on Inuyasha's foot.

"What is it tyke?" Inuyasha asked, lifting his foot, and grinning when Inu-chan held onto his leg, squealing with delight. When Inuyasha put his foot back down, Inu-chan pouted. "Mo'!"

"You want more?" Inuyasha asked. He rolled his eyes at Kagome, who had gone back to the steaming pot to stir the noodles in. She gave him a helpless grin.

"He's _your _son," Kagome said matter-of-factly. Inuyasha glowered.

"Then what was all that about pushing him out of your whatchamacallsits and crap like that? Was that just to make me uncomfortable?"

"For the most part," Kagome said easily, sipping the soup carefully, then adding some of her own ingredients. "Mm. Inuyasha, honey, put Aiko in her chair and set the table, will you?"

"Work, work, work… Is that all you're going to make me do?" he asked teasingly. Kagome lifted a brow at him.

"And just think… I do this everyday _without _you." Inuyasha winced. He _really _hadn't given her enough credit. Sure, he was the one to get up late at night (or early in the morning, depending on your point of view) to attend to Aiko's needs, but Kagome was the one exhausted at the end of the day from taking care of three children.

"Kagome, baby," he said in an appeasing manner, putting Aiko in her high chair. "You know I was just joking, right?" He went up behind her, his hands going to her hips and drawing her back to him.

"Yes, yes. Now go set the table. I don't have time to be romanced just now." Kagome turned the stove off and using a towel, carried the blistering pot to the table.

"There's always time to be romanced by me," Inuyasha said, but obligingly set the table, and called little Inu-chan over.

Inu-chan, despite not even being two years old, had been weaned from the bottle and breast a lot earlier than other babies because of his fangs. As soon as he started teething, he had given Kagome quite the pain, chewing on her breasts with his developing hard baby teeth. And they found bottles could only stand his sharp baby teeth for a short amount of time before the nipples were shredded. At a year old, he had been eating the same solid food as adults.

Inu-chan ambled over, climbing into a chair laboriously. Inuyasha gave him a small boost into the chair, and Inu-chan grinned at his father in thanks for the help. Inu-chan then settled himself on the child-seat, as he wouldn't reach the table otherwise. Kagome came and put a bib around the child's neck, and just in time. The toddler grabbed a fork and went wild. Inuyasha made sure that Inu-chan didn't spill any of the hot soup on himself, but that didn't stop a major mess from being made.

Inuyasha sighed as he watched his son eat. Is this what _he _had been like when he was Inu's age? He found he couldn't remember his childhood and food, other than his mother telling him that he couldn't eat too much chocolate, as it was normally lethal for dogs. The reason he remembered _that _was because some human kid had dared him to eat a whole box of chocolates, and being the stupid chit that he was, he had done it. And had nearly died for the experience.

He laid a hand on Inu-chan's dark head, and the boy looked up at his father while trying to slurp up a noodle. He gave his father a toothy grin, and went back to eating.

Kagome watched the interaction, her heart giving a solid _thump_, as it always did when she watched the proud father with his children. She always knew that Inuyasha would make a great father, but he had turned out to be exemplary. She grinned as she remembered Inuyasha's panicked state when she had been as big as a blimp with Inu-chan.

"Oh my God… Kagome, I don't know if I can do this," Inuyasha had whispered as they had lied naked together, his hand on top of her swollen belly.

"Do what?"

"Be a father. I never had an example to follow, and Lord knows I'm impulsive and just—"

"Inuyasha, have faith. I know you'll be a _wonderful _father. I trust you." She had threaded her fingers through his silver hair, watching it float back down to his back.

"Baby, I'm terrified of breaking that trust," Inuyasha had said.

It was a damn good thing he hadn't.

Kagome was brought out of her walk down memory lane by Aiko's burbling cry. She grabbed a small jar of baby food from the kitchen, bringing a spoon with her, along with a clean bib. Inuyasha took the jar from her, opening it, and waited until she had tied the bib around Aiko's neck before feeding her.

Kagome smiled at Inuyasha in thanks, and went back to the kitchen to prepare her own meal.

She came back with some rice and eggs, a simple yet satisfying meal.

This was, to Kagome's relief, a normal day. She had her husband home for the first time in weeks, helping her with daily chores. Her children were happy, especially Inu-chan and Shippo (who was at school at the moment) whom were unaccustomed to their father being home at this time of day.

Speaking of one of the little rascals, her son decided upending his bowl of ramen on the table was fun.

This was when Kagome discovered Inu-chan listened to his father seriously, but not to her… _At all_. She had chastised and scolded, making him look at the mess he made. He did, looking innocent and bored. However, when Inuyasha said, "Inu, apologize to your mother. You just made a mess and she has to clean it up!" Inu-chan instantly sobered up and apologized to his mother.

"I help cwean!" Inu-chan declared, trying to wriggle his way down off the chair. Kagome helped him, watching in awe as he ran off towards the kitchen. She turned to Inuyasha, a dirty fork in hand.

"How in the _world _did you _do _that?" Kagome asked, her mouth agape with wonder and surprise.

Inuyasha looked at her in surprise. "I dunno. I just said it. It sounded right." Kagome glowered at him.

"I could stab you with this fork right now. Why doesn't he listen to _me_?"

"Maybe he knows I'm the man of the house," Inuyasha said smugly. Kagome was going to follow through with her threat of stabbing him with a fork, but refrained when Aiko giggled and decided to follow her brother's example by throwing the small container of baby food off the table. Kagome sighed, picking it up and putting it back on the table where it was promptly knocked off the table again, hitting her on the back.

"Ow!" Kagome grabbed the container, and felt the sticky fluid going down the back of her jeans. "Ew gross!" Kagome stuck out her tongue in disgust, trying to use her hand to dispel most of the goo. Inu-chan ("Bless his little heart," Kagome said emphatically) came with a roll of paper towels, his tiny hands handing it over to his mother.

She tried to wipe most of the baby food off of her shirt and her jeans (as well as her back), while Inuyasha laughed uproariously.

"You know, it would be mighty helpful of you to… you know… maybe _help _me?" Kagome said scathingly. Inuyasha grinned at her, giving her a smacking kiss on the lips.

"Of course, baby. Let me get that for you." He turned her, lifted the back of her shirt and ran his tongue up her spine. He didn't forget she was particularly sensitive there. She shrieked, jumping away and swatting at his hands.

"Pervert," she hissed, and he smirked at her.

"Only for you."

"Not in front of the children!" Kagome reiterated. Inuyasha's smirk became a wicked grin.

"They won't know… Isn't it their nap time anyway?"

"Well yeah, but—"

"Let's go put them down for their naps, hm?" Inuyasha's lips were moving against the nape of her neck, making thinking a non-pleasurable task for her.

"Uh… What?" she asked intelligently, looping her arms around his neck.

"I said—"

"Mama… Daddy… Aiko's cwaling on the table," Inu-chan stated. Kagome immediately turned to look, but Inuyasha was already there, plucking his little girl off the table. She had somehow climbed out of her high chair to the table top, crawling her way across it.

Kagome exhaled in relief as Inuyasha went into Inu-chan's room to put the little girl down for her nap.

Kagome took Inu-chan by the hand to the bathroom to wash the little boy's face up before she put him down for _his _nap. Inuyasha came out of the bedroom, a thumbs-up indicating he had done his job.

"Shippo will be home soon, so you can play with your big brother once he comes back from school. But if you don't go to sleep, Mama will take away some of your story time."

"No!" Inu-chan immediately denied, his mouth setting in an adorable pout. Kagome smiled.

"Okay, then go to sleep." Kagome tucked Inu-chan, kissing his forehead.

"Mm… 'Kay." Inu-chan pretended to sleep, making snoring sounds exaggeratedly loud, hoping to fool his mother.

"Mister, are you lying to me?" Kagome asked sternly, as she also checked on Aiko. Inu-chan opened one eye, looking sheepish.

"Sowwy Mama. I go to sleep fo' real now." Inu-chan turned to his side, his eyes sliding closed and waiting for sleep to come. Kagome smiled and left the room.

**(Limey Stuff Start)**

Inuyasha was waiting for her out in the hall. As soon as she closed the door to Inu-chan's room, he had her up against the wall, his hand sliding up her sticky back and his mouth ravaging hers. Her legs went up and around his waist.

"Oh, baby, it's been a while," Inuyasha whispered harshly against her lips. Kagome stifled a slight moan in reply.

"The last time was last night, on our anniversary," Kagome murmured, but was quickly driven to distraction by his mouth. His teeth nipped at her collarbone for her correction. "Bedroom!" she gasped, her hands tugging at the hem of his shirt. He wasted _no _time. He made sure to lock the bedroom door, carrying her to the bed and falling on top of it, and more importantly, on top of her. That changed quickly as she flipped them so that she was on top.

"I can't stand one minute without you," Inuyasha groaned out.

She lifted his shirt above his head, and he moaned when her mouth went up his torso to his neck.

"Sh… Quiet. You wouldn't want Inu-chan to wake up and come knocking, would you?" Kagome whispered, her fingers tugging on one of his ears.

"Hell no!" Inuyasha hissed back. He tugged on her hair to bring her mouth back to his. They kissed passionately for long moments, losing their sanities as they lost themselves in each other. He flipped them over again.

"Inuyasha," Kagome gasped his name as he lifted her shirt and unclasped her bra. "What would I do without you?"

"I know _I_ would die without _you_," Inuyasha murmured against her flesh, his mouth streaking over her breasts.

"Inuyasha, you're the best thing that _ever _happened to me," Kagome whispered, holding his head to her as his mouth continued to ravish her.

"Likewise, baby." Inuyasha nipped here, nibbled there, and soon had his very beautiful wife squirming, panting out pleas and wriggling out of her jeans and underwear. He did the same, running his tongue up her right calf once it was exposed. She shivered, her hips lifting to press into his and making his vision go hazy around the edges. They both cried out softly at the contact, fingers digging into each other's flesh with no real damage.

As he murmured sweet nothings and sank into her, she whispered his name and words of love into his hair as he slowly made love to her. When they both reached the pinnacle and went over, the only thing they thought of was the other.

**(Lime ends here)**

* * *

Inuyasha yawned as he made his way to the door. Someone was knocking and ringing the doorbell. _It's probably Miroku_, Inuyasha thought irritably, scratching the top of his head. Shippo had received a key to the house so he could just unlock the door and come in. Besides, they had another hour and a half before the little sprite came home.

"I'm coming!" he snapped, glancing in a cautious way towards his kids' bedrooms. Hopefully, they wouldn't wake up with all this incessant noise. Miroku sheepishly smiled at him when Inuyasha opened the door. The smile didn't last long when he realized Inuyasha was in his boxers.

"You could at least put on some clothes when you answer the door Inuyasha. Geez! I don't want that kind of eyeful. Why couldn't Kagome have answered the door?" Inuyasha motioned him in with a wave of his hand, going to his couch to sit on it. Miroku followed suit, sitting on the couch perpendicular to the one Inuyasha was on.

"Keep your voice down. The kids are sleeping," Inuyasha warned. Miroku, who had babysat on more than one occasion, winced sympathetically. He knew what the hellions were like when awake. Then he eyed Inuyasha's apparel again.

"I see you're using the sleep-time to your advantage." Inuyasha, who would be normally sheepish, only got a smug look of satisfaction.

"Yeah… So?" he asked, yawning again. "I'm allowed… She's my wife!"

"I never said she wasn't," Miroku muttered. Inuyasha turned a knowing, pitying look onto Miroku.

"What did you do this time?" Inuyasha asked, shaking his head.

"What makes you think _I _did something?" He paused, then grinned. "Yeah, of course it was me." His grin disappeared. "She thinks I was ogling some other babe. She made me sleep on the couch!"

Inuyasha tsked. "You know, maybe if you _stopped _looking at other women…"

"Nah. That's not it and you know it. She knows I just do it to make her angry now." Miroku lazed back on the couch, as comfortable here as if he was in his own home. Inuyasha eyed his relaxed position, how he radiated superiority even when he was talking about getting kicked out of bed by his wife.

"You already know, so just tell me why," Inuyasha grunted. Miroku grinned widely at this.

"Ah, I see nothing can get past Hanyou still!" Miroku said with a wink. He frowned. "Say, when _are _you coming back to work? Our ratings our going down. They don't see me more amusing than your crass shit that people call entertainment these days." Miroku exhaled mightily. "A great blow to the ego—"

"Just tell me what you came here for idiot. And for the record, I'm going back tomorrow. As I said I would, you dumb-ass."

"Again, a blow to the ego," Miroku murmured. "All right. The reason why Sango's been so _catty_ lately is because…" he paused for effect. "We're having a baby."

Inuyasha sat there, stunned for a moment, before his face lit up with a knowing smile. He got up and walked over to pat Miroku heartily on the back. "Well, congratulations!" He was genuinely happy for the couple. Miroku and Sango had spent the last two years despairing when she wouldn't conceive. They had tried artificial insemination and all that, but the doctors insisted that the natural way would still work; they just had to continue to try, as she wasn't barren. "How'd you find out?"

"Well, since we're stocked up on pregnancy tests to the ears, she checks periodically. Me getting kicked onto the couch was a small price to pay. A result of those fascinating mood swings."

"I would hardly call them 'fascinating.' More like deadly," Inuyasha muttered, having gone through the experience twice.

"Although, if I got sick just from smelling certain foods, I'd be cranky too. Could you imagine not eating cheesecake? She turned it down just the other day, and demanded that I go to the grocery store to get her some olives." Miroku shook his head slowly, as if in wonder. "How do you turn down cheesecake for olives? I realized then that my child was sick and in desperate need of help. Once he comes—"

"Already decided the gender, have you?" Inuyasha asked. Miroku grinned.

"Sango and I have a bet going. I say it's going to be a boy. Sango says it's going to be a girl. Give me some inside information. Who was right with you and Kagome?"

Inuyasha grinned. "I was right both times. Kagome and I had a bet going for both babies. I got a little bit of cash there," Inuyasha said smugly. "I'll tell you a secret that Kagome doesn't know."

"Huh?"

"I can _smell _the baby's gender. Ha ha! Kagome was so confused as to how I got it right."

Miroku grinned. "You mean she hasn't figured it out yet? Man, I thought she was smarter than that."

"She is," a voice said from the bedroom. "And she stole her husband's money back when he fell asleep."

"Ah…" Inuyasha didn't look too smug anymore, and only scowled when Miroku laughed gleefully.

"Kagome, honey, that's not fair! I was wondering why my winnings always disappeared!" Inuyasha whined. Kagome came out of the bedroom, belting her robe closed. Miroku whistled appreciatively, but cut it short when Inuyasha sent him a murderous look.

Kagome smiled indulgently at Miroku, but sat next to Inuyasha. "And although I've been humoring you about the money, I won't have you making fun of me to our friends," she said, calmly.

"Ah… Sweetie, I wasn't making fun of you."

"And you only call me 'sweetie' when you're in trouble." Kagome gave Inuyasha a quick kiss. "But you're going to have to do a lot of sucking up to make up for that, '_Sweetie_'," Kagome said.

"Kagome, did you hear the good news?" Inuyasha asked hastily, distracting her from her calm vengeance. She could be brutal when she was like that, and he planned to take her mind off of it as soon as possible.

"Hear what?" She turned to Miroku.

Miroku grinned. "As much as I would hate to break up your love-fest—"

"I wouldn't," Inuyasha murmured, and cringed a little at Kagome's glare.

"—Sango and I are having a baby. Which is why I asked Inuyasha about the gender of the babies."

"Oh! I'm so happy for you two!" Kagome was up and hugging Miroku. "Where is she now? Why didn't she come with you?" Kagome was smiling brightly, grinning like a madwoman.

"Well, she's at home because I told her to stay at home. The doctor told her absolutely _no _stressing out her body, because that could be hazardous to our baby. I didn't want her to get overexcited or anything, so I ordered her to stay at home."

"Yes, and a good thing, too, if your baby's at stake!" Kagome took Miroku's hand, pumped it up and down as if he would start spouting water out of his mouth. "Congratulations, Miroku! I mean it!"

"I never thought you didn't," Miroku replied, wincing when he got his hand back. Kagome always _did _have a strong grip.

There was the sound of a key turning the lock, and the front door opened. Miroku turned to see who it was. Inuyasha continued to sit leisurely, his arm around Kagome momentarily squeezing around her to bring her closer.

"It's just Shippou," Inuyasha informed Kagome, who was trying to see around him to see who it was as well.

"Shippou, have you eaten?" Kagome asked, her maternal role kicking in. Inuyasha scowled.

"Go hunt yourself some rodents, kid," Inuyasha said. Kagome gasped, and elbowed him in the stomach—hard. Inuyasha felt his breath rush out at the impact.

"What the hell was that for!" he asked, and Miroku watched as if he were watching a movie he had watched many times before—he knew what was coming next.

As the couple bickered and Shippou joined the melee, Miroku sighed when he heard the cries of the toddler and infant from their bedrooms. When Inuyasha thumped Shippou's head for being loud, Shippou also burst into tears. Kagome was already on her way to the children's bedroom, scolding Inuyasha all the way.

"Inuyasha, you suck!" Shippou declared, rubbing the bump on his head.

"So I've been told. Numerous times," Inuyasha said, standing to help Kagome with the kids. "You wanna help?" he asked Miroku. He held up his hands.

"Hey, I came in peace."

"Har har. That's rich. Now come and give us a hand, will ya?"

Miroku sighed. "Why not? It's good practice, I suppose."

Shippou was left pouting on the living room couch, picking up the remote control to moodily change the channels.

"Dammit!" Inuyasha cursed, and was immediately smacked over the head by his wife.

"Didn't I tell you not to curse in front of the children?" Kagome hissed. Inuyasha rubbed his head in the same manner Shippou had earlier.

"They won't stop crying!"

"I'm changing Aiko's diaper right now! Miroku, could you pass me the baby powder? Thanks."

"Inu-chan, what's wrong? It doesn't usually take this long for you to calm down," Inuyasha said, trying to soothe and calm the boy. He sighed. He hadn't done it in a while to Inu-chan, but Inu-chan was always calm afterwards.

"Bad smell!" Inu-chan exclaimed as Inuyasha lifted him off of his small bed. Inuyasha carefully clamped his teeth over the boy's neck, and he quieted, although a few small whimpers escaped.

"Bad smell?" Inuyasha drew in a deep breath, and frowned. He knew that smell… it was acrid and foul, and he knew he smelled it before.

Memories burst into his head.

Before Kagome could ask why Inuyasha was suddenly growling and his hackles were rising, he had burst out of the room, leaving Inu-chan in Miroku's shocked arms.

"Inuyasha! What's wrong?" Kagome was about to step out into the hall, but Inuyasha was there at the end, blocking the way to the living room. "Inuyasha?"

"Stay inside!" Inuyasha snarled, not leaving his post. "Call 110!"

Kagome knew something was wrong then. However, there was only one thought in her mind. "Shippou!" she cried out, putting Aiko back into her crib and rushing out into the hallway.

"Dammit, Kagome! I _told _you to stay inside! Go call 110! _Now!_" His dominance was not to be questioned right now!

Kagome gulped, tears already running down her face. Fear gripped her heart, making her weak in the knees as she struggled her way back to Inu-chan's room. She took Inu-chan from Miroku, who looked panicked and uncertain of what to do.

"Could you call 110 for me, Miroku?" Kagome asked, and Miroku moved numbly towards the telephone to do so. Kagome picked up Aiko with her other arm, and sank onto the floor. The children, sensing her mood, was silent. Demon children, it seemed, stayed calm in tense situations so their parents would not be distracted.

"Mama… why you cwying?" Inu-chan asked. Kagome couldn't answer, trying to hold her sobs at bay.

Shippou was just as much her baby as were the ones she was holding.

She didn't hear Miroku speaking on the phone urgently, and she still heard Inuyasha growling and snarling in the hallway. Her home had been violated, and by the very person that had tried to kidnap her before. He was back. He was going to try to kill Inuyasha, and if she knew what kind of person he was, he would have no remorse about killing her children. She held onto them tighter. She would _die _before she would see any of that happen! But Shippou…

Despair caught a hold of her again. She would get him back! But a sob caught at her throat as she thought of the things that could be happening to the little fox-demon. Her little fox-demon.

Inuyasha continuously kept his eyes roving, noting things out of place. Such as the wide-open front door. The acrid smell of his flesh. Shippou's fear. The last made his snarl rise in volume, his teeth growing in his mouth. So it was down to this. He had made another kidnapping. Why? Why would he take a small child? Inuyasha heard sirens in the distance, but he didn't relax one bit. His ears swiveled, hearing Kagome's soft sobs in the bedroom.

Policemen filed in, their guns ready.

"He's not here anymore. He fled." Inuyasha punched the wall, creating a hole. "He fucking ran away with _my kid_!" Inuyasha turned and went into Inu-chan's room, the policemen following. One was trying to get his attention, but he needed to see that the rest of his family was relatively okay.

Inuyasha knelt in front of Kagome, bringing his forehead to hers. "I'll bring him back, I promise, Kagome. I swear it with my life." Kagome's eyes glittered with tears, but that wasn't what added the glint of anger in her eyes.

"You're not going to do it alone," she said viciously, clutching their children to her tighter.

Inuyasha ignored the policeman trying to get his attention, and the policeman moved towards the more pliable Miroku. Only two thoughts rang through his mind.

Naraku was back.

And he had taken Shippou with him.

* * *

**wk**: I know you all are probably breathing fire and holding pitchforks, so I'll do the only thing that an authoress can do... I'll update soon! Or at least I'll try. Now that I've got some free time, it shouldn't be too hard... Right?

Oh, also a little note. **110 in Japan is the equivalent to calling 911 here.**

--whoknoez loves you all, and would ask you no to kill her until the story is at least over.


	4. I Knew All Along

**wk**: Yay! I finally updated! Aren't you all happy? Hee hee. But anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter. There are some ups and downs in this one, folks!

**Chapter Four**  
**I Knew All Along**

Inuyasha supposed that they were trying to calm him with soothing words and low voices. He also supposed they were trying to pry information from him at the same time. He ignored them until Kagome burst into tears again. "Get the _fuck _away from her!" He instantly charged the officer that had been questioning Kagome, pinning him to the wall with his arm at his throat.

"Inuyasha, I suggest you stop the police brutality… Er, that is… Whatever, you know what I mean," Miroku said. Inuyasha growled at him. How could he be so _calm_? "Things will be figured out faster if you'll just answer their questions. That way, Kagome won't have to be pushed so hard to answer."

Inuyasha grunted, and continued to growl as he let down the scared police officer. "Fine. Ask away."

"Tell us what happened, with as much detail as you can," another officer said, noting that the attacked policeman remained mute, rubbing his throat and gulping repeatedly.

Inuyasha went through the questions, answering each as patiently as he could. His patience snapped however, when they asked, "Did he take anything of importance?"

"No, only my _goddamned son_!" Inuyasha snapped, restrained only by Kagome's calming hand on his arm.

"May we have a picture of him? One that shows all of his features well."

Kagome went to retrieve a photo, and Inuyasha silently glared at the floor until she came back. The policemen, likewise, thought that questioning him was safest when his wife was around.

"Why would this Naraku have a vendetta against you?"

Inuyasha growled his frustration.

"Miroku, you handle this. I'm gonna go look for Shippouu."

"Sir, it's best if you stay—"

"Dammit Inuyasha! I'm coming too!" Kagome yelled after him.

Inuyasha paused at the doorway at this, growling a warning. "Stay here, bitch."

"No! You can't ask me to stay here while my baby is—"

"We have two more children, Kagome!" Inuyasha snapped. "I understand having Shippouu gone is making you a little crazy, but think about it! What if Naraku comes after our other kids, hm? What then?"

Inuyasha sighed, drew a stiff Kagome into his arms. "I'll bring him back. I swear it."

Kagome started crying again, emotionally unstable. "I'd rather he took me!" she cried out into his chest. Inuyasha's heart contracted at her words.

"He already has, sweetheart. I'll get rid of him, for good," he growled into her hair. He pulled her back roughly and gave her a hard kiss before abruptly tearing away from her and leaping away.

"Inuyasha! Come back with our baby!" she yelled after him tearfully.

_I will, Kagome… I will._

* * *

"I want Kagome!" a shrill voice was crying out from a dank cellar. "I want Inuyasha!" Kagura thought she could tear her ears out happily. "I want them _now!_" The kid had been screaming ever since he'd woken up from the bump on his head. "Get me out of here! Inuyasha'll kick your ass!"

"Oi! If you don't make that kid shut up, _I _will, and then he won't be of much use to Naraku!" Bankotsu growled, covering his ears as he came down the stairs. "Damn, the hormonal, pregnant bitch was easier to take care of than this little brat!" Bankotsu flexed his fist. "And he _is _the son of the guy who took two from our seven…"

"Sorry, that's not in Naraku's plans," Kagura drawled. "I'll go shut him up. Why don't you go… I dunno. Whatever it is the undead do in their free time."

"We eat treacherous little snakes like you," Bankotsu sneered, going back up the stairs, throwing his long braid over his shoulder and nearly hitting Kagura in the face with it.

"You're such a _girl_," Kagura jeered up at him. He didn't acknowledge her statement and she pouted. "Well, I guess now that one brat is gone, it leaves the other one," Kagura snapped her fan open, a malicious intent in her eyes as she moved towards the stairs leading down to the dark, damp cellar.

"Oh, precious," she cooed through the door. "You don't seem to know what kind of situation you're in, but you're going to be in horrible trouble if you keep that up, my little foxy child."

"Are you gonna kill me?" Shippouu asked through the door, his boldness making his words stronger. "Go ahead! Inuyasha told me I can't fear death!"

"Ah. So I guess rumor _is _true that he's bein' a little daddy." Kagura snapped her fan closed at that. "And you're his 'firstborn'. But not exactly _from _him, are you? Technically speaking, his firstborn is that little look-alike of him, isn't it?"

There was a pause on the other side of the door. _Ah_. A soft spot. Apparently, Daddy Dearest hadn't taken the time to reassure little Shippouu that he had cared just as much for him as much as his blood children. "You're not Kagome's firstborn either. Is it guaranteed that they both love you like their children?"

"Y-yes!" he replied hesitantly. "Kagome and Inuyasha love me! They tell me so!"

"Ah, but as much as their other children?"

"Y-Yeah!" he wavered. "They've told me that before…"

Kagura gave a dramatic sigh from the other side of the door. "How tragic. Do you even know if they'll come after you? They would be worried we'll go after their children and stick close to them."

Silence reigned on the other side.

"You poor dear. You stay there quietly, and I'll make sure Mr. Naraku will treat you better. Okay?"

Still, no answer.

Kagura frowned. Odd. The promise of better treatment should have made the boy ecstatically agree, after having his doubt shaken by the malicious kidnapper. Maybe even turn him against his parents.

"Shippouu? Are you still in there? Don't play with Auntie Kagura now. There are no windows in there, you couldn't have gotten out."

No noise. Kagura couldn't even detect the soft noise of his breathing when she pressed her ear against the door. Had he somehow escaped!

She opened the door and cautiously moved inside. And looked around… Dammit! The brat _had _escaped!

She opened her mouth to start yelling, enraged, but a sudden noise and movement caught her interest. She looked upwards, and found the little fox-demon, grinning down at her. Before she could utter a sound, he transformed into a large chestnut, dropping onto her head. The woman dropped like a pile of potato sacks.

"Sucker. I wouldn't doubt my parents after only a few words from a stupid stranger. The same stranger that _took me from my home_," Shippouu hissed at her, tying up her arms and legs without any finesse, and gagging her with a strip of cloth he tore from her skirt. He quickly left the room, carefully closing the door.

He carefully crept through the house, noting the heavy curtains covering all the windows. Any open doorways he would cling to the wall and carefully slide over them. He looked at the front door with some frustration when he saw it. It had locks galore; steel bolts, chain locks, deadlocks, padlocks, and the regular house locks. Some required keys, and some required height. But with his wall climbing ability, height didn't matter.

And he hadn't been a street urchin in the younger days of his life after his father had been killed without learning a few things off the streets: Like how to pick locks for example.

But doing it without noise, that would be tricky. He would just have to do it and hope he didn't get caught. But first, he crawled underneath the heavy drapery of the curtains to see if the windows had similar locks.

To his joy, he found no locks. But to his dismay, he found bars. He chewed his lip, then brightened. He was only a little child! Maybe he could go through the bars!

He measured himself to the bars, and found he could probably make it! He pressed his ear to the window, and was immensely glad that it was nighttime. There weren't any loud noises outside to alert the household.

He carefully opened the window a crack, then farther, very slowly, making sure he made no noise. Then he encountered another problem. Barely withholding a sound of frustration, he noticed the screen covering the window. It was the kind that would have to be popped off. It would definitely make noise.

Shippouu barely had time to make a decision between the heavily locked door and the breeze of freedom before he heard some heavy footsteps on the stairs. His decision had been made for him. He squeezed in between the bars, receiving some minor scrapes on his belly and his back, before he popped the screen of by kicking it.

He heard the steps pause, then thunder down before a woman's voice shouted up. "There's someone trying to break in! Hide!"

Well, it was just to Shippouu's luck that this woman was stupid. Shippouu landed on pine straw, and looked around. There were bushes blocking his view, and he fought his way through them to abruptly find himself on a nicely watered green lawn.

_What the hell? Am I in suburbia? _He found himself gaping, wasting precious seconds, and he shook himself out of it before scampering off on all fours, getting away frantically from the house that had held him captive at least a day.

He ran as far and as fast as he could, before hiding himself in front of a house's bushes. He climbed up the wall and climbed in through an open window.

"Who're you?" a little girl asked, rubbing her eyes as she looked at him sleepily, but not alarmed.

"Uh… I'm the tooth fairy," Shippouu blurted. The little girl blinked at him.

"Nuh-uh! I've seen you before! You're older. And you look like Mom."

"Fool, she's just my helper!" he boasted quietly, puffing out his little chest while his eyes flickered to the window. "Can I close that?" he asked quietly.

"What for?" she asked, now fully awake and frowning at him.

"There are fairy killers after me," Shippouu whispered melodramatically. The girl's eyes rounded before she nodded.

Shippouu mentally rolled his eyes. Puh. Kids.

"Are fairies supposed to have tails?" she asked, pointing at his fluffy one. "I've seen demons with tails like that. Are you sure you're not one of _them_?"

"I am, I just… uh… I got recruited by the fairies," Shippouu covered quickly.

"Recruited?" the girl repeated the word with confusion, apparently not understanding the meaning.

"The fairies like me and wanted to be one of them. I was a really _good _kid," Shippouu said. The girl pouted.

"I'm a good girl, too!" she shouted, and immediately Shippouu shushed her.

"Okay, okay!" Shippouu panicked, his eyes again sliding towards the open window. "Can I _please shut that window_?"

"I guess, since you're a fairy," the girl said, crossing her arms angrily and still pouting. Shippouu stayed out of sighed while using one hand to close the window. He peeked out, and saw some men that seemed to be out on a jog, but he knew who they were, and what they were looking for. All of their eyes shifted, and before a pair could land on him, he lowered himself down to the floor. The girl watched him curiously.

"I… ah, I'm gonna go to sleep in this room, because it's such a nice room," he declared. "But 'fore I do, do you mind _secretly _getting me your phone?"

"I have a phone in here! It's the Hello Kitty one over there," the little girl said, pointing to a red light. On closer inspection, Shippouu concluded it _was _a phone, and he took it with him under her bed.

"Just calling Headquarters. You have to pretend to be asleep, because they check on the people we stay with. Sorry, but you're going to have to pretend you're sleeping the entire night. Is that okay? Oh, and you have to keep this secret from _everyone_. Even your Mom and Dad."

The little girl pouted, but nodded. She flopped back down on the bed, turning her face to the wall. Shippouu first stuck a quarter under her pillow to give credence to his lie, then clambered under her bed, shoving aside some girlie toys to make room for himself.

Just then, he saw a shadow hesitate by the window, and he lay still, noting the red eyes of an angry and pissed off Kagura before she flew off, satisfied that he wasn't there.

He was smart. He understood that the men running down the street meant that Kagura was free. And of course, that meant she had the use of her feather.

An online IQ test had recently told him he was a genius. Well, there was no disputing that now, was there? All the experiences he had on the street or in foster homes weren't for naught. He had spent every second learning survival tactics and instincts, as well as soaking in books any chance he could get. His time with Kagome had and with some foster families had given him the time to be a real child, to keep his childhood in tact.

He waited half the night until the little girl was softly snoring over him and he deemed it safe enough to use the phone. He moved to the window and closed the curtains as well, not doing it earlier because he was afraid one of the men had seen the open blinds and would suspect if it was closed the next minute.

He sat on the end of the little girl's bed, dialing in his home phone number. When a strange man answered, he nearly gave in to the urge to hang up. "Uh, is Kagome-san there?" he asked, trying to sound adult.

"Who is this?" the man asked sharply.

"Give me the phone!" Shippouu heard Kagome practically shriek in the background. "Hello?" she answered hoarsely as she got on the phone. "Listen, I'll take any demands, I'll do a trade with myself if you want, just don't hurt--!" Kagome paused, a sharp intake of breath making the police abruptly close in on her. Miroku waved them off, his gaze hard and angry. "Shippouu?" Kagome asked brokenly.

Shippouu was crying, and his little ragged breaths gave hiccups now and then. He inwardly marveled that when he had been an adult just a moment ago, he could quite easily be reduced to a child as soon as he heard the voice of "mother."

"Kagome," he whispered brokenly.

"Oh, Shippouu!" Kagome cried out, her tears streaming with happiness down her face. "Where are you, baby?"

"I… I'm in a baby blue house with dark blue shutters. I'm in a little girl's room. I escaped them somehow." Shippouu's bottom lip quivered. "The house's address number is 1921. Sorry, but I don't know the address. I crept into this house without anyone noticing, except for a little girl." Shippouu gave a short, quiet laugh. "I convinced her I was the tooth fairy."

Kagome gave a wet chuckle, pressing a handkerchief that Miroku had just handed her to her eyes. "We'll find you," Kagome said confidently. "Are you still in Japan?"

"Yes. The little girl spoke Japanese. We're in some kind of suburban neighborhood. Like, a regular neighborhood." Shippouu paused. "And I don't think I took a plane or a ship. People would recognize Naraku immediately, and his lackeys. They are wanted on FBI's most wanted list now."

"I suppose that's true," Kagome said. "Shippouu, hang tight. Inuyasha or someone else will find you soon and we'll bring you home."

"Thanks, Kagome," Shippouu said tiredly. Then almost as an afterthought, he also added, "Love you."

Kagome gave a shaky laugh. "Love you too, sweetheart. I'll be seeing you soon."

Shippouu nodded, forgetting Kagome couldn't see it, and hung up. He curled up under the bed again, thinking, "Not if they can help it. They're angry, and they want blood."

* * *

"What did you say?" Inuyasha demanded to know, his face transforming from a hardened, chiseled face to a smiling, beaming one. "He did, did he? Damn, he's smarter than you, Kagome!" He laughed as he listened to her reply, and sighed.

"This is a miracle. That boy was just born with good luck, I guess." Inuyasha looked around. "Yeah, I'll find him if it's the last thing I do."

Inuyasha hung up, new destinations in mind. He was going to look at the closest suburban neighborhoods, and as quickly as possible. "1921, eh?" he murmured to himself, then grinned. That brat had one hell of a brain! Then he frowned again.

Why the hell didn't any one of them know about it?

Maybe it was all a huge, unlikely coincidence. Yeah, coincidence…

He leapt into the air, heading towards the nearest suburbia he knew of.

* * *

Kagome was pacing the living room, her tears dried, and her children watching her nervously. Inu-chan and Aiko seemed to know not to make any sounds that might agitate their mother further. Miroku was sitting, with his right leg crossed over his right, and he was staring at the front door as if Inuyasha would appear, holding Shippouu by the back of his shirt as he usually did.

The police, however, were in a burst of activity, on the phone, in the kitchen, in the bedroom, running, running, running.

It was starting to get on Kagome's nerves.

The door burst open, and Miroku jumped to his feet and all the activity came to a stop, some even putting their hands on their weapons.

"Whoah. Am I under arrest?" Sango asked, a bit quizzically. As soon as the cops were satisfied that she wasn't an enemy, they were bustling about again.

"Sango!" Miroku grit out. "You're not supposed to be on your feet!"

"Well, if you would _explain _to me why you were calling and telling me to lock the doors and windows all of a sudden, and why there are _policemen _all up in Inuyasha's house, I'll be _glad _to stay off my feet!" she spat back, her hand going to her belly.

"Sango, here, sit down. We can explain when you get off your feet," Kagome said, her lips pressed so firmly together they were white.

Sango understood she was worrying Kagome and Miroku both, and sighed before slowly collapsing onto a sofa and putting up her feet on the table. "Okay. I'm down and out for the count. So _now _will someone explain some of this?"

"Naraku has Shippouu, but he escaped and Inuyasha's looking for him this very moment," Kagome explained. "That's the shortened version. And the longer version isn't that much longer."

Sango blinked. She turned blistering eyes to Miroku. "You didn't tell me our friends were in trouble."

"He didn't want to worry you, Sango. And frankly, neither did I. With your complications, your baby—"

"—Has been completely fine so far. Stop treating me like glass, folks," Sango muttered, her eyes flashing.

"Sango, as far as I'm concerned," Miroku started, putting his hand over her stomach, "this _is _glass. Please don't let anyone—not even you—break it."

Sango seemed to soften at that, heaving a big breath of defeat. "I guess I should take a nap. Do you mind if I borrow your couch, Kagome?"

"Why not step it up and take the bed?" Kagome said, gently leading Sango to the bed. Sango scowled at being treated like a precious, fragile _thing_, but she didn't really complain anymore. Well, not too much anyway. Er, not as much as she_ usually_ did, anyway.

As soon as Sango was put to bed, Kagome went back to the living room, pacing again.

"Kagome, you should rest a bit too," Miroku said, noting the tired circles under her eyes. Aiko in his arms blinked open her eyes at that moment and let out a loud wail.

"Oh, no time for rest," Kagome said tiredly, walking over to hold Aiko. "Besides, you know I wouldn't be able to sleep right now."

Miroku stubbornly held onto Aiko, repositioning her so her head lay against his shoulder and he patted her back soothingly. "Go lie down," he proposed. "Just rest those bruised looking eyes of yours. Besides, time with Aiko is good practice for me. You wouldn't cheat a father-to-be of good tips now, would you?"

Kagome gave a sigh of defeat, throwing up her hands. "I'll go lie down on the couch for a minute. But just a minute!" She turned, and all but nearly ran into Inu-chan.

"Mama, where Shippou go?" Inu-chan asked, sucking on one of his fingers. Kagome scooped up her older child, and walked with him to the couch.

"He went away for a little bit. Daddy's picking him up right now," Kagome said soothingly, setting Inu-chan against her and patting his back. However, it wasn't soothing him as it usually did. He squirmed and wriggled until she set him on her stomach as she was on her back. "What's the matter?"

"I don't like da people here," Inu-chan declared, his small nose twitching as all the scents of the strangers made him antsy. "They have same bad smell."

The oddity of his statement didn't ring any alarm bells in Kagome's overworked mind. Kagome's jaw cracked as she gave a tired yawn. "Inu-chan, that's not nice to say. They're working hard, and they're also trying to bring your brother home."

"I don't like dem," Inu-chan said stubbornly. Kagome sighed, kissing her son on the top of his head. She didn't see Inu-chan's eyes following one man, and one man only.

* * *

"Dammit, where are you Inuyasha?" Shippou muttered underneath the bed, peering out through the crack. The girl had already gone to school, telling her parents of fairies and their strange habits of using the phone. The parents had praised her for her imagination, and the little girl had glowed with it.

But he was getting damn irritable waiting for Inuyasha in the dusty, cluttered darkness underneath the bed.

Suddenly, there was a sharp rapping noise on the window, and Shippo felt his happiness burst inside of him like a supernova. Ecstatic and completely overwhelmed with his need to see Inuyasha, he scrambled from underneath the bed to the window.

The curtains were in the way, so he lifted them.

And froze.

It was not Inuyasha looking back at him, but a very disdainful looking Kagura. He scrambled back, falling from the window to the ground. He landed on his rump and quickly scooted backwards as Kagura calmly broke the window and opened it.

"How did you find me?" Shippou demanded to know, leaping up to his feet once his back hit the wall. Kagura sighed.

"I knew since you tried to hide yourself from us, brat. The first time I passed by this house, the window was open. The second time, it was closed." Kagura smirked. "Smart, but sloppy." Shippou nearly groaned with dismay.

"So what made you wait until now?"

"Had to wait until the parents left. They wouldn't like it if some strange demon broke into their house, now would they?" Kagura sighed. "Now hurry up and come out. You know there's nowhere to run. And I don't have time to float around, since you probably already called that hanyou to come and get you."

"And he'll be coming here any second now!" Shippou declared. Kagura bared her teeth in a nasty smile.

"So let him," Kagura said. "You're not the primary target anyway."

"What do you mean by that?" Shippou asked, inching towards the doorway. Dammit, the brat had closed it on her way out. It would cost him precious seconds to open it and dash out.

"I know what you're thinking, and it won't work, boy. You've escaped from me once, to my humiliation, but you won't do it twice. Of course, it doesn't really matter now."

"So if you don't care that I escape, just let me!" Shippou said, his feet shuffling as he crept closer to the door.

"No can do. Even though we don't really need you anymore, it'll make Naraku more suspicious…" _of me_, she added silently. Ever since she had tried to help Kagome out, Naraku had grown more wary of Kagura. Of course, Kagura had done everything and anything to prove that her loyalties still were with Naraku. Why, she had even--

"I don't remember where it is, I promise!" Shippou shouted, pulling Kagura out of her thoughts.

"You expect me to believe that? Now be a good little brat and get your little butt out here!" Kagura snapped. He jumped for the doorknob then, twisting it as he saw Kagura lie low against her feather to fly inside the room. He ran into the hallway where Kagura followed easily. Her fingers grazed his tail and he jumped onto the railing, dropping onto the floor below, tumbling into the side of the couch. He jumped up when he saw her diving for him, and quickly went around the couch, knocking over a small table with a vase full of flowers. He skidded when the water from the vase made the wooden floors slippery and crashed into a wall. It made a painting above him shake and it wobbled precariously on its nail.

Shippou looked up just as the painting slipped off the nail. Before he could be crushed by the painting, he felt Kagura's hand grab his tail and pull him out of the way. "You little brat!" Kagura hissed. "Now the owners will know something happened here!"

Shippou stuck his tongue out at her and made a swipe at her face with his little claws. She only held him a certain distance away, rolling her eyes. She sailed up the stairs and out the window, quickly going up, up, up, so that the people below wouldn't see them as she hid themselves in the clouds.

Shippou felt tears prick his tears. Inuyasha hadn't been able to make it, after all. When they returned to "the base," Kagura wrapped a strip of cloth around his eyes so he wouldn't be able to see where it was.

"You know, you're a pretty smart brat. I'll give you that," Kagura said as she went into the house, holding the little boy by his tail again. She threw him into his former dungeon, where she took off his blindfold. "But try that shit again, and I guarantee you won't be alive the next time I find you," she said in a sing-song voice. Shippou shuddered as he retreated to a far corner of the room, pouting.

"Inuyasha, you bastard. You couldn't even find me," Shippou whispered brokenly, his tears finally coming out now that Kagura had gone away. He wailed then, not caring who heard him, or if they would make him shut up in the meanest, nastiest way possible. He just wanted to go back home.

* * *

"Where the fuck is this house?" Inuyasha swore savagely, ignoring the looks he got from people as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop. It was daytime now, not night, and the strain of looking all night long, constantly moving, and getting no sleep was starting to take its toll on him. Irritable, grumpy, temperamental, and with dark circles underneath his eyes, he was not a pleasant sight to anybody.

He honestly thought the house would have been much closer, but ever since he started searching, he couldn't find it. The police had given him several locations, but so far, none of them had panned out. It was something he couldn't understand.

"Why are my tax dollars going into you useless bastards?" he had demanded to know of one of the policemen at his house. The cop had indignantly blubbered and lectured until Inuyasha hung up on him.

His legs felt as if they were going to pop off at any moment. He rubbed them vigorously while he was in the air, but it only managed to make the swollen legs throb. Gritting his teeth, he ignored the pain and continued. He wouldn't give up! Not until he killed Naraku, at least.

* * *

Kagome awoke from her small nap, a little surprised. She had not intended to sleep at all, only to rest her eyes a little. Apparently, although her mind had refused to settle, her body had taken over the second she had let it rest.

"Mama, you're awake," Inu-chan said, kissing his mother on her cheek innocently. "Uncle Miroku told me not to wake you up, so I lied very still."

"Thanks, baby," Kagome murmured, stretching a bit before rising. Inu-chan settled himself in her lap, looking up at her curiously, as she yawned.

"You still tired?" Inu-chan asked.

"Yeah, a bit," Kagome replied, arching her back to get a crick out of it. One of the policemen came up to her, and she failed to notice Inu-chan stiffen in her lap.

"Ma'am," he said, his tone abrupt. "There was a case of another kidnapping just a few minutes ago. This might not be Naraku after all."

"It is," she said firmly. "Inuyasha smelled him."

"Has Inuyasha ever _met _Naraku?"

"Well, actually, not really, but he's smelled him before!" Kagome said, indignant on Inuyasha's behalf that the cop doubted him.

"Sorry, ma'am, just covering the bases." Kagome nodded a bit stiffly. However, before the cop could continue, there was an extremely loud _bang! _outside that had all the police scrambling for cover and pushing her and all the other people down onto the ground. She heard Sango's yelp from inside the room and was about to get up when the cop that had been talking to her pushed her down onto the ground.

Inu-chan gave a yelp from under her, as he was practically smothered into the carpet. The cop let up a little, and Kagome lifted some of her weight from Inu-chan, but didn't let him out from underneath her.

She watched Miroku throw off some of the cops trying to restrain him, and she was glad to see another cop cradling Aiko against his chest against the ground. Miroku rushed into the room Sango was in, and she heard Miroku shush her.

Aiko wasn't crying, sensing the danger around her and her instinct making her limp. She made small whimpering noises however, since she wasn't near her mother. The cop crawled carefully over to her, depositing the whining little baby to her mother. Aiko settled then.

Kagome saw some of the men standing next to the windows and the front door, all of their guns pulled out. Her heart thumping frantically in her throat, she pulled her children closer to her, wondering if Naraku was insane for trying to attack a house filled with cops.

When nothing but silence followed, the atmosphere filled with cautious confusion.

The cop near the front door was gesturing, pointing and using hand signals to communicate. Wordlessly, some of the cops checked through the windows as they were told to do, and shook their heads at the cop near the front door. He was obviously in charge.

He nodded his head, and cautiously opened the front door, all the other policemen tensing, their hands all on their weapons as he flung the door wide open. Kagome winced, covering her children fully with her body. Still, nothing happened.

The policemen indicated that the two near Kagome to watch them, and assigned two others to join Miroku and Sango, all through hand signals. Then, using more signals, he indicated the rest to follow him to check the perimeter.

As they all went outside and began checking everything thoroughly, Kagome noticed a shimmering wall being erected between the house and the policemen outside. She tried to shout something at the policemen outside, but a blow against her cheek left her reeling and stunned.

"What the fuck are you doing, Takagi!" The one that had handed over Aiko demanded to know. The one that had been talking to her before the loud bang was the one who had hit her, she realized.

Takagi, however, had no intention of answering as he raised his gun and shot the policeman in the forehead.

Kagome's ears were buzzing as the gunshot made her ears ring. However, she choked on her scream as the gun swiveled to her. She shook as she pressed a frightened Inu-chan and Aiko into the carpet. "Don't look," she whispered to Inu-chan, indicating the dead policeman, whose mouth was open and staring at them sightlessly, his brain matter on the other side of his head. Kagome nearly gagged and vomited, but forced her sight back to the still smoking gun.

The two policemen who had gone inside to look after Miroku and Sango came running out, their guns drawn. Kagome heard Miroku shout, "No!" but the policemen came out anyway.

"Put your weapon down, Takagi!" One of them shouted, his weapon trained on Takagi. Takagi gave a humorless smile as he pressed the gun against Kagome's neck. She cried out as the hot muzzle of the gun burned her skin. She felt the smell of her own burnt flesh, and felt Inu-chan start to shake underneath her. Aiko-chan merely gave a small mewling cry and fell silent again.

"What if I don't?" Takagi asked, grinning wolfishly. The two policemen started to step closer, but stopped when he shoved the gun sharply into Kagome's neck. "You think I won't kill her? Or her two little bitches?"

"Takagi, think of what you're doing!" one of them said. Kagome thought his name was Shinji. She didn't know the other's name.

"How much is Naraku paying you?" Kagome asked loudly, her eyes glittering coldly as she looked at the man beside her. The man who had killed one of his own comrades in cold blood.

The man gave a cold laugh that had Kagome curling around her children.

"Why, Kagome! I _am _Naraku!" he declared before grabbing the gun in his ankle holster and swiftly shooting the two men from the bedroom.

Kagome didn't even have the chance to scream when he crashed the butt of his gun into her skull.

* * *

**wk**: I named this chapter what it is because Kagura knew all along where Shippou was, Naraku knew all along that... well, that he was Naraku, and Inu-chan knew all along that one of the policemen was an unsavory character. 


	5. The Final Battle

wk: Thanks for being patient with me guys... I honestly don't know why it took me so long to update. . So sorry! School's been kicking my ass off cliffs, and I've actually not been doing too well in school... But I still managed to write this chapter, yeah? Even if it's a year later, it's still a chapter, right? Eh heh heh heh... Anyways on to the story!

Chapter Five  
The Final Battle

"Now, now… You wouldn't want to shoot the little baby girl, would you?" Naraku asked, holding Aiko close to his body. Aiko started to cry. The policemen's weapons wavered in the air before lowering. "Good decision." He had grabbed Aiko as soon as he had knocked Kagome out, ensuring his own safety.

Naraku went before them, coolly knocking each of them out with the butt of his gun before depositing Aiko back onto Kagome's limp body. Inu-chan hurriedly put his baby sister back next to his mother, and the baby stopped crying. Naraku went back to the policemen to grab their guns and put them on the kitchen counter where he could see them. It wouldn't do for them to come to with a weapon in their hands.

Inu-chan was hiccupping and shaking from the force of his trembles. "Mama… Mama…" He whispered, pushing Kagome's body back and forth after she had fallen. She had fallen a little to the side, and Aiko was still quiet. Inu-chan was unable to keep in his fear, and his sobs were starting to get louder and louder.

"Shut up, you little brat," Naraku said nonchalantly.

"You smell bad!" Inu-chan exclaimed rebelliously, standing in front of her mother in a typical protective stance, although he was shaking. Naraku rose an eyebrow at this, and smirked.

"You are your father's child, I suppose. Now, don't be as stupid as your Daddy," he cooed as he grabbed the kid by the neck.

Inu-chan gasped for breath, kicking the air as he was lifted off the ground.

"Papa's… not… stupid," he gasped out, his little claws desperately trying to dig into Naraku's hand.

"Just as stubborn as well," Naraku murmured. He threw the child into the wall, where Inu-chan hit the back of his head and was knocked out. "Now for the others," he murmured to himself, going towards the bedroom which held the monk and the exterminator.

When he tried to open the door however, a bolt of power went through him, blowing him away from the door. As he recovered on the other side of the room, his palm was sizzling with burn marks. "A ward, hm? I see, monk. Clever. I forgot you had spiritual powers." Naraku just shrugged. He would be able to get in later. For now, he would have his fun with the unconscious little boy, the one that looked so similar to his rival and hated enemy.

Whistling to Inu-chan as if he was a dog, he approached the stirring boy next to the wall. "Come here, boy." Naraku lifted Inu-chan by the back of the neck of the shirt. Inu-chan started to choke on his shirt and Naraku rolled his eyes. His cold smile took place on his face as he sat on one of the sofas, his own claws running over the boy's face softly. "We'll have fun, hm?"

"You… bad…" Inu-chan murmured.

"Yes, boy… You'll see how bad I can be," he murmured as his claws began to sink deeper.

* * *

"Shippou!" Someone hissed to him. "Shippou! Wake the fuck up!" Someone was shaking him. He was cold… He was alone… He was imagining things… 

_Thump_.

"Ow!" Shippou jerked awake, rubbing his head where some unknown enemy had just hit him.

"Shut the hell up Shippou! I made sure no one found out that I snuck into the house, so don't give me away!" Inuyasha hissed.

"Inuyasha?" Shippou gasped. He touched Inuyasha's shirt with trembling fingers, and was about to jump at him when Inuyasha clapped a hand to his shoulder.

"I know you're feeling pretty shook up right now. But right now I need you to put yourself together fast so we can get back home as fast as we can. Can you do that?"

Shippou blinked fast to rid himself of tears. Inuyasha had found him after all. But he was right. Now was not the time to cry about it.

"Yeah," Shippou replied, glad to hear his voice did not tremble.

"That's a good boy," Inuyasha rumbled. "Get on my back. We can travel faster that way." Shippou climbed onto Inuyasha's shoulder so that Inuyasha could have more mobility. "All right, let's blow this fucking joint!" Inuyasha declared quietly. He made sure that everything was the way it was, and closed the door softly. They made their way through the house and made it out the front door. Shippou almost couldn't believe they had made it out without running into anyone.

When they were a good distance from the house, Shippou felt normal enough to bicker with Inuyasha again.

"Figures it would take you a _long time_ to find me," Shippou remarked sarcastically. Inuyasha growled.

"I tracked you down to the little girl's house, but then I saw Kagura. I decided to let her take you so that I could know where the hell there hideout is so that their asses can get busted."

Shippou paused. This actually wasn't a bad idea. Still…

"So you used me as bait! Bastard!" Shippou grumbled. Inuyasha 'Keh'ed.

"Got you out, didn't I? Now let's go back home. Naraku wasn't at that house, and it makes me nervous."

"So where would Naraku be?" Shippou asked out of curiosity.

"I don't know," Inuyasha replied, his voice tense. They were quiet the rest of the way, somehow feeling the intensity of the need to return.

* * *

Kagome slowly, very slowly, came back to reality. Her head throbbed where she had been hit, and nausea made her breath short. Her eyes opened slowly, and she stopped herself from groaning. Naraku was kneeling next to the dead policeman, turning himm over and examining them. For what, she wasn't sure. Without moving her head too much, she scanned the area. She thought she saw the barrel of a gun hanging over the kitchen counter, but couldn't be too sure about that from her position. 

The sound of something ripping brought her attention back to Naraku. He was mutilating the body, his eyes cold and precise. She closed her eyes for a moment, bracing herself for the view he was treating her. A sudden thought made her eyes pop open in fear and disregard for what Naraku was doing.

_My babies… Where are my babies?!_

Kagome immediately located Aiko next to her body, but Inu-chan was another matter. She looked for his dark head, and her breath caught when she saw his feet coming off the side of the sofa. She couldn't tell if he was alive or… or…

Her breath hitching, she sat up, disregarding the fact that she would give away that she was awake to Naraku. Thinking semi-logically, she flew to her bedroom door, sensing the spiritual power barricading it. She automatically knew that it would let her open it. As she did, she deposited Aiko inside, and quickly shut it. As she did, a palm slapped on the door, trying to keep it open, but it was too late. Naraku made a noise of disappointment as his palm sizzled again, and his arm came around her throat to cut off some of her hair. Struggling, she scratched at his forearms, but he disregarded the small stinging gestures.

"Listen, love. You ought to stop that kind of foolishness right now."

"Don't call me love," Kagome gasped out, her eyes on her son on the couch. Now that her vantage point was different, she saw that he was lying on the couch, but something was wrong, very wrong. His hair was covering his face, but she saw something dark dripping onto the floor… Couldn't be blood… Her baby was alive… Had to be alive…

"What the _fuck _did you to my baby!" She screeched, fear for her child overriding any sense of logic.

Naraku chuckled. "I just made it a little more… obvious that he has demon blood. You know, I never would have known he had a hanyou for a father if it wasn't for his ears. You should thank me for making him more pretty," he drawled.

"You son of a bitch!" Kagome slammed her elbow into his midriff, stepped on Naraku's foot, and spun around in his slackened grip to use the heel of her hand against his nose. She had to have learned a few things while being married to Inuyasha. Naraku stepped back, blood pouring from his nose. Kagome ran for it.

Naraku jumped for the couch, figuring she was heading to the couch for her son. He was wrong. She had ran to the kitchen counter where she could now see that it _was _guns up there. Grabbing one, she spun around and pointed it at Naraku. She shot once, twice to get him away from Inu-chan. Naraku raised both his hands in surrender, a half-smile on his face.

"What are you going to do, Kagome-chan? Kill me?"

Hatred coursed through her, making her trembling hand steady and her eyes blaze. He had hurt her baby. That was the biggest mistake that he had ever made in her life. She felt Naraku's barrier outside being attacked. Inuyasha was back.

Naraku's smile faltered as he began to scowl. He knew Inuyasha was back as well.

Kagome's stance became relaxed in the way that she was confident.

"Move one inch, and you can bet you'll have a fucking hole in your head," Kagome hissed.

"Now, now, Kagome. You and I both know that you don't have the balls to—"

Kagome shot at his feet, where she missed his toe by a millimeter. Naraku froze.

"Underestimating me right now is a bad idea. A _really _bad idea."

"So I see," Naraku murmured.

Kagome felt something inside the house pulse, and as a result felt Naraku's barrier being forcibly lowered. Naraku took that moment of unguarded vulnerability to try to rush her. Her gun was already raised—two things happened at once. She shot him in the chest, and Inuyasha barged in, breaking down the front door in his rage.

Snarling in rage, Inuyasha jumped on a gasping Naraku. However, Naraku still had enough power to run his claws through Inuyasha's midriff.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried out, trying to aim and fire at Naraku. Inuyasha was too close to Naraku, however. She threw down the gun in frustration, and ran over to help. She tried to kick Naraku's head, but his free hand grabbed her ankle, pulling on it abruptly to make her fall. Landing on the floor with a thud, she rolled away. Inuyasha had pulled himself free, but was bleeding heavily. Naraku held a hand to his chest, trying to put pressure on it himself. If Kagome was right, there was no exit wound. Inuyasha fell to one knee, coughing up blood on the floor.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed, trying to go to him.

"Stay where you are!" Inuyasha growled, making Kagome freeze. "Don't come any closer," Inuyasha ordered harshly.

Naraku lifted himself from the ground, standing. A small dribble of blood was coming out of his mouth. He smiled at Inuyasha, who was bleeding much more heavily out of the bigger wound.

"You think this will stop me?" Inuyasha growled, his hand clenching on his wound. He jumped at Naraku again, both rolling on the ground and viciously trying to kill the other. Inuyasha was much more mindful of Naraku's claws, and Naraku learned that Inuyasha also had similar weapons as he was swiped at continuously. Kagome inched across the wall to the sofa again, going to her son while her husband fought for all of them. She wondered why the other policemen weren't coming in, but felt Naraku's barrier was still intact. Inuyasha must have been the only one who made it through the barrier, Kagome thought.

Kagome made it to the sofa, and she lifted her child. There were horizontal slash marks across the boy's cheeks, as a demon would have. They were fresh, still bleeding, and Kagome's lip trembled. Tears came to her eyes as she tried to wipe away some of the blood with her sleeve. She jumped away when Inuyasha was thrown into the wall and debris went everywhere. She would have to make it to her bedroom again. She trusted Miroku's wards to keep Inu-chan safe.

She made her way to the other side of the room to the door. Making sure Naraku was plenty occupied she opened the door once more.

"Here," Miroku's voice whispered, and he reached out to take Inu-chan. He must have been expecting her. "You come in, too," Miroku whispered.

Kagome shook her head, trying to peer into the crack. "I'm all right. Please just take care of my babies." She firmly shut the door between them herself.

She stood, and felt a presence behind her. Before she could turn around, she was hit with such force that it knocked her sideways.

"KAGOME!" She heard Inuyasha's shout. She felt the pulse within the house once more, and Inuyasha apparently felt it as well, because he ran towards the pulsing energy with purpose. Naraku went after him, but Inuyasha got the small supply closet and got what he was looking for. It was the sword, the one that he had had before but couldn't remove from the sheath.

Kagome looked up from the ground blearily, and her eyes met Inuyasha's. A sudden strength surged through her, and she looked towards the sword. She stared at it as Inuyasha unsheathed the blade, and it pulsed once more as he pulled it out. She thought it was an old, rusty blade at first, but instead became a humongous blade that Inuyasha shouldn't have been able to hold up—but did.

Inuyasha blinked. He hadn't been expecting this. A split second later, he was using the humongous blade as a shield against Naraku's attack.

"Oh, puppy learned a new trick?" Naraku drawled, but Inuyasha could tell that Naraku was troubled by this new turn of events.

"Keh. The only new trick you're going to learn is how to beg for mercy!" Inuyasha yelled as he jumped into the air with the sword. The sword came down with a surprising force, making Naraku retreat a little.

"Oh, I'll show you a nice trick…" Kagome thought her eyes were tricking her at first, but quickly knew that she wasn't hallucinating when Naraku's figure started to grow. It wasn't merely growing, but changing… Mutating.

As his figure became too much, the roof expanding, he tore through the ceiling to literally bring down the house around them. Inuyasha jumped towards Kagome, shielding her from the heavy debris with his own body. She heard him grunt as undoubtedly heavy pieces of their house were falling on him. When things were a little more quiet, he stood, pushing away the debris with his body. As soon as he emerged, however, he was caught by a large spider leg. Kagome looked fearfully towards her bedroom, and breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was still up. She tried to look for the policemen as well, but saw them scrambling off to the side, helping each other. At least they were both alive—for now.

Kagome frantically rolled away as a spider leg landed where she had been just a second ago. She looked up to see her worst nightmare come true. The world's largest spider—and demon—standing in her destroyed living room. She wanted to laugh hysterically at the thought of calling terminators.

Bringing herself under control, she looked around for anything she might be able to use. She looked for the guns on the kitchen counter, but half the counter was missing and she was sure the guns were knocked off. She ran towards the counter, intent on finding the weapons so she could help in some small way. As Naraku fought against Inuyasha, still inside his own barrier, Kagome dug in the debris for the small weapons. When she found one of the guns, she got to her feet, aiming at the underbelly of the enormous spider.

As she got off a round of shots, she saw the spider flinch a bit with each shot. It wasn't hurting him drastically, but Kagome thought it irritated him. She didn't see the spider leg as it quickly pinned her down on the ground—hard. Gasping for breath, she made a futile effort to lift the enormous pressure. She knew Naraku wasn't putting his whole weight on her—otherwise she would have had a hole through her the size of a tree trunk.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha landed next to her, and with a swipe of the enormous sword, the spider leg was gone.

Naraku screeched an awful cry as he tipped over a little. Inuyasha grabbed the dizzy Kagome and leaped into the air with the sword.

Kagome dizzily aimed her gun again, and shot off her last bullet into one of Naraku's eight eyes.

Naraku shrieked, one of his eyes bloody and unseeing. His leg waved around, trying to catch them in the air, but Inuyasha somehow maneuvered them through the air, and he landed on the other side of the barrier behind the spider, depositing Kagome down next to the policemen.

"Protect her," Inuyasha growled before he was attacking Naraku again, cutting down another one of the insect's legs.

"Do you have an extra gun?" Kagome asked the policemen, her sense returning to her.

"Uh, yeah. He didn't check our ankle holsters," one of them said. Shinji, she thought.

"Good, give it to me." She took the small gun, and began to aim at the spider. She froze when one of the spider legs speared through Inuyasha—again.

"Inuyasha!" She knew he healed fast, but this couldn't be healthy for him. Fear and anger drove her gun up, and she fired. What happened surprised her.

From the gun came not a bullet, but a wave of pink energy that tore a hole the size of two of his own legs put together through his body.

Screeching his pain and his rage, he turned towards her once more, throwing Inuyasha off to the side. Cold fury made her steadily aim at his head again.

She felt the energy once more, and she channeled it into the weapon in her hands. This time when she shot, the effect was much more powerful. A larger wave of energy shot towards the spider's head. He dodged at the last moment, and it went through what would have been his "shoulder."

The spider lunged at her, his pincers closing in on her—

Inuyasha was there, his sword being used as a stick to keep the pincers open.

Blood dripped down where he was standing.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped, her hands going to his bloody back, where he had been torn through. She could almost feel the hole there. He turned his head to look at her.

"What _was _that?" he asked, indicating the gun in her hands. She shook her head, confused herself.

"I don't know."

"How can you not know what you just did?!" Inuyasha gasped out, the spider struggling to get closer to them.

"I don't know!" Kagome answered back, a hint of desperation tingeing her voice. She knew as much as he did—nothing.

"Well, I don't know what the hell that was, but it's pretty damn powerful. When I give you my command, when there's a signal, shoot at his head," Inuyasha murmured. With a powerful push, he deflected the spider and jumped, his sword pointed down towards the spider's midriff. Naraku sensed this attack and jumped away, facing both of them.

Inuyasha kept trying to spear him through, and Kagome grew nervous, awaiting Inuyasha's signal, her gun drawn and raised.

When Kagome met Inuyasha's eyes for a second, she knew. Inuyasha made an imperceptible nod, and she shot. The wave of energy missed. She sagged. That had been the last bullet.

Naraku turned, lunging once more at her. Inuyasha came at Naraku from behind, using his sword to come down on Naraku's neck—the joint that connected the ghastly spider head to the midriff. Naraku made a spider's shriek as Inuyasha's sword cut smoothly through to the ground below, making Naraku crash down from the blow.

Inuyasha had Naraku pinned down. And she had no bullets. Gritting her teeth, she looked around for weapons once more.

"Hey, I have my gun from my ankle holster too," the other policeman said. He pulled it out. Kagome felt tears sting her eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered, taking it. She aimed carefully at the flailing spider, and she met Inuyasha's eyes once more. She made a nod, aimed, and fired. The bullet, along with a tidal wave of pink energy, came towards Naraku. Inuyasha pulled his sword out at the last second, and the bullet went through Naraku's head, his midriff, and exited out the back. The energy that came with the bullet completely destroyed Naraku's physical body, his dying spider scream making Kagome's hair stand on end.

Gasping for breath, she collapsed as Inuyasha ran to her.

"Kagome, you were absolutely brilliant!" Inuyasha exclaimed, lifting her into an embrace. He winced a little as the move tore at his injury more. Kagome tried to weakly push herself out of his arms, but he only hugged her harder.

"It's over, it's over, it's over," he repeated over and over again. Kagome nodded, her arms going around his neck and tears pricking her eyes. She felt Naraku's barrier go down, and she heard the two policemen next to them shout to other people as sounds from the outside came filtering in.

"What the _hell _happened here?!" She heard a voice roar, and she later found out it was police chief.

Miroku came out of the room, carrying baby Aiko and a ruffled Sango carrying Inu-chan—still unconscious. Kagome found new strength as she shoved out of Inuyasha's arms to Inu-chan. She stared at his face, which was still bloody with the cuts Naraku had made. Inuyasha was beside her in an instant, and she felt his shock and rage down to her soul.

"Naraku did this?" He hissed.

"He's dead. There's nothing more we can do," Kagome whispered, taking Inu-chan into her arms, nuzzling him carefully. Inu-chan stirred, but did not wake. "My poor baby," she whispered.

"Bring him back from the dead. I'll fucking tear him apart piece by piece!" He yelled with a raw voice, his anger making him sound much more animalistic.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said as she laid a calming hand on his shoulder, "calm down. Help me help Inu-chan right now. He needs us more than he needs you to go on a rampage."

Inuyasha was tense a moment before he turned and took Inu-chan from Kagome's arms. His trembling fingers ran down Inu-chan's face.

"I apologize, Inuyasha," Miroku said softly from the side. "I was selfish and protected only Sango and our unborn child. I did not try to venture from the room for fear that Naraku would make it inside and kill Sango."

"I understand, Miroku. Don't apologize to me for protecting your mate and pup. It's what I should have done." Guilt made Inuyasha's voice rough.

Kagome was about to reply against Inuyasha's self incrimination, but a camera was shoved into her face.

"What happened here, Kagome-san? It is reported that serial killer Naraku had—"

"Please. No comments at this time. As you see, you are standing on our ruined home. Perhaps we can discuss this when we've at least found a hotel room and have freshened ourselves—"

"Get the fuck away from my mate!" Inuyasha growled, shoving away the reporter with gentle force despite his harsh words.

"Kagome!" Kagome heard Shippou's call from the crowd. The policemen were trying to get a handle on things. They were all first in shock, and the reporters were going crazy trying to get the coverage, but as soon as the policemen got a handle of themselves, they pushed back the gawking crowd.

Inuyasha, Kagome, her family, her friends, were all escorted to police cars (picking up Shippou along the way to the cars as well), and driven to the nearest hotel. Two complimentary rooms were given to them. The police chief had insisted on taking a statement the following day, when they were in much better shape.

Inuyasha himself was advised to go to a hospital, but he had adamantly refused, even threatening to cut off hands with his sword. "Don't fucking touch me unless you want to lose that appendage," he had growled.

At the hotel, Kagome had ordered a first-aid kid, and had patched him up herself.

Inu-chan had come to, and the first thing he had done was start to cry. It had taken Kagome and Inuyasha the better part of an hour making him go to sleep again. To make matters worse, Aiko had started to cry as well when her brother did, and it took her longer to calm down. Kagome changed Aiko's diaper and tried to feed her, but Aiko merely let out all of the terror she had felt that night.

When both children were asleep, Inuyasha and Kagome curled around each other and fell asleep as well. Consequences be damned, they would deal with everything in the morning.

* * *

wk: Okay, so this is NOT the final chapter. There's more coming guys. :) Again, so sorry it took me so long to update. I know it's been a bitch waiting for my updates, and I apologize again.

Also, sorry if this chapter wasn't one of the best. I'm sure it gets confusing at times in this chapter, but I think it's okay, considering I wrote it in like... two hours. Phew!


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